BY Edmonton Sun

World record free diver Mandy-Rae Cruickshank was 10 meters from the surface when she blacked out off the shores of Grand Cayman Island Sunday, spoiling her claim to the deepest dive by a woman in history – on a single breath of air.

“I woke up and thought I’d done it. When you black out you have (vivid) dreams, and since I visualize the dive a lot before doing it, that’s what I imagined. I thought things went perfectly.

“Then I came to and saw the look of pity on people’s faces. I knew I’d blacked out … I cried.”

Cruickshank was in the Caymans for the Liquification free diving event, where she announced her attempt at a world-record 91-metre free dive.

She blames a nagging flu bug for the frustrating failure.

Cruickshank successfully reached the record depth on her final dive but was disqualified for the black out.

“I met a safety diver (on the way up) with about 33-feet to go. After a few more kicks I started to feel the tingling sensation. I shook my head at him and he started assisting me up. I stopped kicking and blacked out. As soon as you get assistance the dive doesn’t count.”

She said black-outs in the sport are common for those who push the envelope.

“You don’t get seven world records without pushing your boundaries. I’ve blacked out 10 or 11 times in eight years of competing.”

The Edmonton-raised 33-year-old spoke to Sun Media from Chicago, before taping tomorrow's episode of the Oprah show with magician David Blaine.

The show will focus on the sport of free diving and Blaine will attempt to break a record by holding his breath underwater for over 16 minutes, after spending about 20 minutes huffing oxygen.

“David was with us in the Caymans and we were helping him train,” said Cruickshank. “At first he was just going to be a segment on Oprah’s show but we found out about two weeks ago that they’re going to dedicate the entire episode to free diving.”

She said the sport has evolved in recent years to incorporate several redundant safety systems up and down the dive line, including safety divers like her husband Kirk, who helped bring her to the surface following her black-out.

Cruickshank will be in Edmonton later next month to visit her family, before returning to the diving circuit in Miami and California.

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