Simone Arrigoni (born in Rome, Italy, on 4 September 1973) is an Italian free-diver. He holds multiple free-diving world records. He is an ActionAid Ambassador and Honorary Member of the Centro Studi Cetacei, a non-profit Italian association that is concerned with the study and rescue of

marine mammal Marine mammals are mammals that rely on marine ecosystems for their existence. They include animals such as cetaceans, pinnipeds, sirenians, sea otters and polar bears. They are an informal group, unified only by their reliance on marine enviro ...

s and reptiles since 1986.

Free-diving

Since 2008, Arrigoni has collaborated with biologists and students at ''Zoomarine Italia'' to carry on research projects on the study of free-diving and the

comparative physiology Comparative physiology is a subdiscipline of physiology that studies and exploits the diversity of functional characteristics of various kinds of organisms. It is closely related to evolutionary physiology and environmental physiology. Many ...

of humans and

dolphin A dolphin is an aquatic mammal in the cetacean clade Odontoceti (toothed whale). Dolphins belong to the families Delphinidae (the oceanic dolphins), Platanistidae (the Indian river dolphins), Iniidae (the New World river dolphins), Pontopori ...

New disciplines

He opened two new specialties of dynamic

apnea Apnea (also spelled apnoea in British English) is the temporary cessation of breathing. During apnea, there is no movement of the muscles of inhalation, and the volume of the lungs initially remains unchanged. Depending on how blocked the ...

: * ''Horizontal Free Immersion'', devised by Arrigoni in 2009 to allow disabled persons to play this aquatic sport, in which the freediver covers a horizontal distance pulling on a rope; * ''Dolphin's Breath'', which consists of freediving with monofin along a horizontal distance of predetermined length, periodically resurfacing to take a single breath of 1 second, and aiming at taking as few breaths as possible during the declared distance. The Dolphin's Breath was inaugurated by Arrigoni to disseminate two important slogans: "Mind the dolphins", to raise public awareness to protect marine mammals and their environment, and "Never alone", to remind people to never practice freediving alone for safety reasons, following the example given by dolphins which live and swim in a group, always helping each other in case of difficulty.

World records

Arrigoni set many world records: * Dynamic freedive without fins in sea, 60 mt, Porto Santo Stefano,

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

, November 9, 2003. * Dynamic freedive without fins under ice, 30 mt, at the 19th Stage of Diving Under Ice A.N.I.S., Lavarone, Italy, January 31, 2004. * Dynamic freedive without fins in sea, 83 mt
Giochi del Mare
Balestrate, Italy, June 17, 2004. * Dynamic freedive without fins in lake, 70 mt, Bracciano, Italy, June 7, 2005. * Dynamic freedive without fins under ice, 41 mt, at the 21st Stage of Diving Under Ice A.N.I.S, Lavarone, Italy, February 4, 2006. * Dynamic freedive with DPV ( Dive Propulsion Vehicle) in sea, 231 mt, Giochi del Mare, Formia, Italy, June 25, 2007. * Dynamic freedive with DPV (Diver propulsion vehicle) in lake, 381 mt,

Bracciano Bracciano is a small town in the Italian region of Lazio, northwest of Rome. The town is famous for its volcanic lake (Lake Bracciano, Lago di Bracciano or "Sabatino", the eighth largest lake in Italy) and for a particularly well-preserved medie ...

, Italy, June 2, 2008. * Freedive pushed by two

dolphins A dolphin is an aquatic mammal in the cetacean clade Odontoceti (toothed whale). Dolphins belong to the families Delphinidae (the oceanic dolphins), Platanistidae (the Indian river dolphins), Iniidae (the New World river dolphins), Pontopori ...

, distance of 9 Zoomarine's swimming pools length (estimated of about 450 mt), Zoomarine, Torvaianica, Italy, May 17, 2009. * Horizontal Free Immersion in sea, 101 mt, Giochi del Mare,

Formia Formia (ancient Formiae) is a city and ''comune'' in the province of Latina, on the Mediterranean , Italy. It is located halfway between Rome and Naples, and lies on the Roman-era Appian Way. Mythology According to the mythology the city was f ...

, Italy, June 17, 2009. * Freedive pushed by two dolphins, 12 underwater loops, Zoomarine, Torvaianica, Italy, May 27, 2010. * Freedive pushed by two dolphins, 13 underwater loops, Zoomarine, Torvaianica, Italy, May 19, 2011. * Freedive pushed by two dolphins, 14 underwater loops, Zoomarine, Torvaianica, Italy, May 23, 2013. * Dynamic freedive with DPV (

Flyboard A Flyboard is a brand of hydroflight sports, hydroflighting device which supplies propulsion to drive the Flyboard into the air to perform a sport known as hydroflying.ExamplesFlyboard Ultimate SupercutPower Board Expert. A Flyboard rider sta ...

) in sea, 500 mt,

Tropea Tropea (; ; ; ) is a municipality in the province of Vibo Valentia, in the Italian region of Calabria. It is one of I Borghi più belli d'Italia ("The most beautiful villages of Italy"). Tropea is a seaside resort with sandy beaches, located on ...

, Italy, September 30, 2013. * Freedive pushed by two dolphins, 15 underwater loops, Zoomarine, Torvaianica, Italy, May 22, 2014. * Freedive pushed by one dolphin, 7 underwater loops, Zoomarine, Torvaianica, Italy, May 28, 2015. * Dolphin's Breath with monofin in sea, 1 km with 95 single breaths (total time 23'30" with 1'35" of breathing), Giochi del Mare, Santa Marinella, Italy, June 8, 2016. * Dolphin's Breath with monofin in sea, 500 mt with 35 single breaths (total time 9' with 35" of breathing), Limnionas,

Kythira Kythira ( ; ), also transliterated as Cythera, Kythera and Kithira, is an island in Greece lying opposite the south-eastern tip of the Peloponnese peninsula. It is traditionally listed as one of the seven main Ionian Islands, although it is dist ...

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

, August 12, 2016. * Dolphin's Breath with monofin in sea, 500 mt with 32 single breaths (total time 9' 10" with 32" of breathing), Diakofti, Kythira, Greece, September 5, 2016. * Dolphin's Breath with monofin in sea, 500 mt with 30 single breaths (total time 10' with 30" of breathing), Diakofti, Kythira, Greece, September 15, 2016.

Photography

Since 2010 he has been developing his interest in photography – in which he looks for unusual perspectives, details, lights and symmetries. His photos and reportage have been published in print and online magazines, and received awards in international photo contests, such as the International Photography Awards.

Publications

Arrigoni has self-published an autobiography: ''Seven Breaths. A Tale of Music, Freediving, World Records and Dolphins'', Charleston, CreateSpace, 2017 (translated from the Italian ''Sette respiri. In apnea tra musica, record e delfini'', Charleston, CreateSpace, 2016).

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Arrigoni, Simone 1973 births Living people Italian male classical pianists Italian male pianists Italian freedivers Photographers from Rome 21st-century Italian classical pianists 21st-century Italian male musicians