Good to know that the profession of 'illusionism' is still alive and well in Lithuania, as brother and sister circus duo Arvydas and Diana Gaiciunas proved this week when they broke the world record for holding their breath underwater in a nationally televised event. Chained to the bottom of a swimming pool at Druskininkai water amusement park in southern Lithuania, the pair of illusionists were viewed by over a hundred onlookers, including professional divers, medical physicians, journalists, TV cameramen and spectators, as they inhaled pure oxygen for forty seconds before being submerged in the pool. But this was no illusion. Diana stayed underwater for 11 minutes and 7 seconds; her brother Arvydas remained under for an incredible 15 minutes and 58 seconds, shattering the previous world record of 9 minutes and 8 seconds set by German Tom Sietas in 2006. Both were hospitalised for tests after the event and confirmed to be in stable condition. Previously, the veteran circus performers were frozen in a 12-ton block of ice for almost three days in 2005, for which the Lithuanian government granted them 1500 euros each. |