ArticleDiving and hyperbaric medicine2023
Underwater pulse oximetry reveals increased rate of arterial oxygen desaturation across repeated freedives to 11 metres of freshwater.
Article in Diving and hyperbaric medicine, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.
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Who cites it
2 citing papers in PubMed, 3 citations in OpenAlex.
- Advances in breath-hold diving research: a state-of-the-art review.European journal of applied physiology · 2026Review
- Wearable Technology in Diving: A Review of Heart Rate and Oxygen Saturation Monitoring for Enhanced Safety and Performance.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Review
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Authors and funding
4 authors at 2 institutions in 3 countries.
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No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
introductionRecreational freedivers typically perform repeated dives to moderate depths with short recovery intervals. According to freediving standards, these recovery intervals should be twice the dive duration; however, this has yet to be supported by scientific evidence.
methodsSix recreational freedivers performed three freedives to 11 metres of freshwater (mfw), separated by 2 min 30 s recovery intervals, while an underwater pulse oximeter measured peripheral oxygen saturation (SpO
resultsMedian dive durations were 54.0 s, 103.0 s and 75.5 s (all dives median 81.5 s). Median baseline HR was 76.0 beats per minute (bpm), which decreased during dives to 48.0 bpm in dive one, 40.5 bpm in dive two and 48.5 bpm in dive three (all P < 0.05 from baseline). Median pre-dive baseline SpO
conclusionsWe speculate that the enhanced rate of arterial oxygen desaturation across the serial dives may be attributed to a remaining 'oxygen debt', leading to progressively increased oxygen extraction by desaturated muscles. Despite being twice the dive duration, the recovery period may be too short to allow full recovery and to sustain prolonged serial diving, thus does not guarantee safe diving.
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