Underwater Bike Record

I think this comes under the heading of people who need to get a life????

The record for cycling underwater has been broken by Italian Vittorio Innocente who succeeded in pedalling 213ft (65m) under the Mediterranean.

By Daily Telegraph reporter
Last Updated: 3:52PM BST 24 Jul 2008

Vittorio Innocente breaking the world record for underwater cycling Photo: BARCROFT

Lowered into the sea by a team of local scuba divers, Mr Innocente mounted the bike at a depth of 92ft (28m) and rode along a 360ft (110m) long underwater slope, dodging mud pools and rocky outcrops.

Continuing his descent, Mr Innocente, 62, smashed his own previous world record of 197ft (60m) which he set three years ago.

The Milan-born Italian set the new record in the waters of Portofino's maritime marine reserve, at midday on Monday.

He took nine minutes of deep sea pedalling to reach the 213ft (65m) mark.

"It was tough because I ran into more mud than I expected," he says.

"I had to click up a gear to make pedalling easier".

The world record was verified by the judge of the World Guinness Records, Lucia Sinigagliesi, who had come from London specifically to witness the record attempt.

Mr Innocente, who undertakes these record attempts for charity, says he is on a mission to prove that mountain bikes can be ridden anywhere.

Having travelled to the wilds of Alaska and the plains of Kenya proving his point, Mr Vittorio decided seven years ago to combine his cycling with his other great passion, scuba diving.

Mr Innocente says that he first had the idea for underwater bike riding whilst leading a group of German tourists scuba diving off the island of Elba, 25 years ago.

He says that when one member of the group simply found an old bicycle on the seabed, he picked it up and began to ride it.

Following this world record, it is clear that Mr Innocente dominates the world of underwater cycling.

In 2001 he also set the speed record for underwater cycling when he pedalled 1,200m in a swimming pool at an average speed of 87 cm/second.