Magician David Blaine appeared live on The Oprah Winfrey Show April 30 to set a new world record, holding his breath for 17 minutes and 4 seconds! Before Blaine entered the water-filled sphere, he inhaled pure oxygen through a mask to saturate his blood with oxygen and flush out carbon dioxide. The Guinness Book of World Records states 30 minutes of ‘oxygen hyperventilation’ are allowed under the guidelines. During the suspense Oprah was very nervous as she fidgeted in her chair, “I'll be glad when it's over. I don't like suspense,” Oprah told the audience during a commercial break. The previous record for holding one’s breath was 16 minutes and 32 seconds, set on Feb. 10 by Peter Colat in Switzerland. Blaine appeared relaxed after the feat and said the record was “a life long dream.”