Nicolas Mevoli

Nicolas Mevoli

“A Deep Water Diver From Brooklyn Dies After Trying For a Record”

Nicolas Mevoli held the world record for free-diving with fins to 100 m. He was attempting to set a new record of free-diving without fins at 72 m. Unfortunately he passed away shortly after attempting this new record. I calculated the amount of pressure he would feel diving at both depths. At 100m he felt 10.9 atm, and at 72 m he felt 8.14. I then wanted to see how much the fins helped him on the first dive, and if one of the dives would be harder in terms of the power Mevoli would have to exert.  When using fins he had a power output of 1819 Joules/s. When diving without fins his power output was only 1352 Joules/s.  When he was wearing the fins he was able to exert 26% more power than when diving alone. The amount of power he would have to exert is about the same for both dives, because he reduced his distance by 28% when he was diving without the fins. I concluded that both dives were about the same in terms of difficulty for Mevoli. 

First World Record (with fins) 100m

P=ρgh+1 atm

P=(1025 kg/m³)(9.8m/s²)(100 m) +1 atm

P=1105800 pa/1.013 X10⁵ pa

P=10.9 atm

World Record Attempt 72 m

P=ρgh+1 atm

P=(1025 kg/m³)(9.8m/s²)(72 m) +1 atm

P= 723240 pa/1.013 x10⁵  pa +1 atm

P=8.14 atm

Force

·      Assuming no acceleration, I calculated how much force is required to dive down to the bottom of the dive at a constant velocity. For the volume of water displaced, I assumed Mevoli's body was a cylinder with a height of 1.79 m (5'11'') and a radius of .25m. I estimated his weight to be 180 lbs or 81.82 kg. 

F_Mevoli=F_B-F_g

F_Mevoli =(1025 kg/m³)(π(.25m³)(1.79m)(9.8 m/s²) – (81.82 kg)(9.8 m/s²)

F_Mevoli =2728.636737

F_Mevoli =2729 N

World Record Attempt (72 m)

Work= Force x Distance

·      I calculated how much work is required to get to the bottom of the dive.

W=2728.636737 N x 72 m

W= 196461.845 Joules

W=196462 Joules

Power= Work/Time

·      Total dive time was 3:38, so the dive took 218 seconds. I assumed it took 2/3 of the time to dive down and 1/3 of the time to come up. It takes 145.3 seconds to reach the bottom of the dive.

p=196461.845/145.3 s

p=1352.111

p=1352 Joules/s

World Record (100m)

Work= Force x Distance

·      I calculated how much work is required to get to the bottom of the dive.

W=2728.636737 N x 100 m

W= 272863.6736 Joules

W=272863 Joules

Power= Work/Time

·      Total dive time was 3:45, so the dive took 225 seconds. I assumed it took 2/3 of the time to dive down and 1/3 of the time to come up. It takes 150 seconds to reach the bottom of the dive.

p=272863.6736 Joules/ 150 s

p=1819.091157 Joules/s

p=1819 Joules/s

Comparison of Power

 1819 Joules/s-1352 Joules/s= 467 Joules/s/1819 Joules= .256

He was able to do 26 % more work while wearing the fins.