Nicolas will dive for the world record for the longest underwater human chain on Reunion Island

This Sunday, December 1, the island of Reunion aims to regain its world title by organizing an underwater human chain bringing together 630 divers, at Cap La Houssaye. The Mayennais Nicolas Sancéau will be one of the links in this chain.

He will be one of the links in the chain. Sunday, December 1, Mayen resident Nicolas Sancéau will take part in a new challenge: breaking the world record of the longest underwater human chain.

A unique adventure, ten meters deep, where 630 divers will hold hands over a dizzying distance of 500 meters, in the sandy bottom of Cap La Houssaye, on the island of Reunion.

However, while the idea of ​​diving to a depth of 10 meters to gather and wait peacefully at the bottom, hand in hand, may seem simple on the surface, making it happen requires some logistics. Even for seasoned divers like Nicolas, who is preparing to pass level 3 diving.

“There will be around thirty boats and We will already have to synchronize for the descent, explains the thirty-year-old, licensed at the “Le Dodo Palmé” diving center. Once everyone is lined up, you will then have to manage to stay on the sand at the bottom of the water, hand in hand, which can be difficult if there is a little current.”

But on this point, the Mayennais, who arrived two years ago in Reunion, may be reassured. The Cap La Houssaye site was chosen for its tranquility in the face of the vagaries of the sea currents. It has another advantage, and not the least: the presence of a sandy strip, which allows divers to align themselves on the bottom, but also to attach dead bodies connected to buoys, thus ensuring the stability of underwater human training.

Floating gives the feeling of being weightless in water

Nicolas Sanceau

Level 2 Diver

On Sunday, the 650 participants, united hand in hand underwater, will share a symbolic moment around a common passion, scuba diving. Nicolas fell into it when he was little and after two decades, the pleasure of diving remains intact.

“It's a very relaxing activity because floating gives you the feeling of being weightless in the water, he explains. And then there is the curiosity of the funds to discover always a little more of the fauna and flora.”

By launching this challenge of the longest underwater human chain in 2013, Réunion brought a new record into the « Guiness book ». At the time, the participants had accomplished the feat of forming an underwater human chain made up of 110 divers, stretched over a distance of 70 meters, in the bay of Saint-Leu.

Since this pioneering achievement, Scotland, Italy, California and even Indonesia have entered the race, with the aim of raising awareness among the general public about the protection of marine ecosystems, so dear to the hearts of these diving enthusiasts.

“Tourists don't see too much waste because it's cleaned up quite well by diversexplains Nicolas Sancéau. But as soon as there is a cyclone, all the waste that is in the mountains is swept by the gullies and ends up in the sea, which greatly pollutes the water.

On Sunday, Nicolas and the 630 Reunionese divers engaged in this epic will try to beat the record set in 2019 by Indonesia with 578 divers.

Watch the report from Réunion La 1ère:

A challenge which intends to “bring together the community of ocean lovers” underlines the Union of Leisure Activities Professionals, but also “to promote the diving activity and the Réunion destination.” This is good: the event will take place one month before the International Scuba Diving Show in Paris, where the Reunion performance will certainly be talked about.

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