Deep Water: Lessons from Joseph Smith and a Croatian Free Diver

by Autumn Dickson

Context for this week: Joseph Smith and his companions were freed from prison by sympathizing guards during a transfer. Though they returned to their families, persecution rendered it necessary for Joseph to go into hiding. Some of what we read this week came through letters that Joseph had dictated with the will of the Lord.

In Section 127, there is a verse written by Joseph Smith that speaks of his ability to handle stressful situations. After repeatedly being placed in difficult circumstances, his ability to handle it grew tremendously.

Doctrine and Covenants 127:2 And as for the perils which I am called to pass through, they seem but a small thing to me…deep water is what I am wont to swim in. It all has become a second nature to me; and I feel, like Paul, to glory in tribulation; for to this day has the God of my fathers delivered me out of them all, and will deliver me from henceforth; for behold, and lo, I shall triumph over all my enemies, for the Lord God hath spoken it.

Deep water is what I am wont to swim in.

I feel like coming across this message was rather timely for me. At the time that I’m writing this post, I just read about a Croatian freediver named Vitomir Maričić. Maričić just set the world record for holding your breath, a whopping 29 minutes and 3 seconds. He beat the last world record by almost five minutes.

I researched what Maričić had to do in order to become this incredible freediver who could handle this kind of extreme duress. He obviously engaged in cardiovascular training, but it was not sufficient for this kind of world record. He also engaged in specifically training his diaphragm to take much slower, longer breaths. He stretched and performed breathing exercises in order to increase lung capacity. He worked with carbon dioxide tables in which he would hold his breath for a set amount of time and gradually decrease his rest intervals; for example, he would hold his breath for two minutes at a time while taking breaks that gradually shortened in between each two-minute period. He did the opposite with oxygen tables where the rest intervals were fixed, and the amount of time he would hold his breath would increase. He would walk while holding his breath to put extra stress on the body to acclimate. He literally worked to condition his spleen to release an increased number of oxygen-rich red blood cells.

He also worked mentally. At a certain point in holding your breath, your diaphragm starts to contract as a defense mechanism for the lack of oxygen. At about 20 minutes, Maričić felt these contractions but held the mental resolve to continue.

In order to prepare for the dive, he breathed pure oxygen for ten minutes. This can also cause problems, and he had to consciously work on building up his endurance for pure oxygen.

One of the main principles Maričić took advantage of was progressive overload where you continuously increase the stress you’re under to increase the amount of pressure you can handle. He did this under proper safety protocols and teams who could take care of him if something went dramatically wrong.

Deep water is what I am wont to swim in. Deep water is what Joseph Smith was accustomed to swimming in. It is one of our goals of mortality: to learn how to swim in deep water.

Why does it matter if we can swim in deep water?

Because that’s where Heavenly Father lives His life, in the deep end. He is fully engaged, co