New Guinness record for underwater bench press - video

Vitaly Vivchar is a Russian professional weightlifter and amateur diver who decided to combine their passions to set a new Guinness World Record for barbell bench press… underwater! The Russian performed 76 repetitions with a barbell weighing a total of 50 kg while holding his breath. The whole attempt took place in the waters of Lake Lebyazhye, near his hometown Tomsk.

It took Wiwczar two months of training and preparation to attempt such an unusual record. The date of the final test was set for August 13. Guinness officials came to Tomsk to supervise the record attempt and from that moment there was no turning back.

-- Advertisement --

Before the start of his approach, the Russian athlete admitted that so far his best result achieved during the preparation was 65 repetitions. This result in an official trial would be enough to become a new record holder in the “Most repetitions in bench press underwater” competition.

The score he had to beat was 62 repeats by American Greg Wittstock, which he set his record in October 2019.

It was a coincidence that he decided to try to break such an unusual record. As a professional athlete, Vitaliy Vivechar had won weightlifting competitions, and his hobby is diving. When he heard about the feat of the American from Illinois, he decided he had to try it.

In the official attempt, despite unfavourable conditions such as low temperature and poor visibility, the Russian did 76 repetitions, which should be enough to become a new Guinness record holder. Now the record is being verified by the Guinness World Records Bureau and we will find out about the official verdict soon.

However, this does not change the fact that we can be almost sure that this is not the end of the struggle in this unusual discipline and both Vivchar and Wittsock will make further attempts to break the record in underwater bench press.