On December 5, Kim Bruno from Montreal broke the Guinness World Record for the deepest underwater photo ever taken, capturing it near the wreck of the Sea Trader ship, in Nassau (Bahamas), where they took photos of her at a depth of 40 meters, without a diving suit.

The businesswoman, speaker, and certified diver enlisted the help of Pia Oyarzon, an underwater photographer from the Bahamas whom she discovered on Instagram. Accompanying her were also captain and safety diver Steven Nixon and Eduardo Pantoja, the witness chosen to certify the record.

Nine minutes to take the photos...

Kim Bruno and her team were able to break the previous 30-meter record thanks to a special technique combining free diving and diving. Bruno, who spoke to Radio Canada from the Bahamas two days after breaking the record, explained: "You are in the diving protocol, but you switch to breath-holding when you reach the bottom." "At this depth, you can only spend nine minutes without decompression, due to the nitrogen in the tanks. Above 30 meters, there is also the risk of narcosis, [a phenomenon] that gives you a feeling of poisoning, where you lose some orientation."

After descending to 30 meters with a nitrox tank, a mixture of oxygen-enriched air, the diver covered the last 10 meters by communicating with safety diver Steven Nixon's emergency device. To take the photos, she had to remove her mask and hold her breath, replenishing between shots from her partner, who came to give her some air breaths.

The team was only able to take a few shots at a depth of 40 meters, after which the divers continued the photo session and gradually ascended to the surface.

A Guinness World Record less than three years after diving:

Kim Bruno's passion for diving grew during a critical period in her life, when she traveled to Mexico for the first time about two and a half years ago for alternative fertility treatments with the aim of conceiving, after several failed attempts in Canada.

Once she took her first diving lessons, after a few months, her instructor discovered an unexpected talent in her, recalling: "The first time he put me in the pool, I held my breath for three and a half minutes without training."

Within two and a half years, Kim Bruno went from a beginner to a certified deep diver. She is passionate about underwater animals and also collaborates with the shark protection organization in the Bahamas. Meanwhile, she also gave birth to a girl she described as a miracle child.

The Guinness World Record will be officially confirmed next week.