Kathryn Nevatt held her breath for 7min 45sec while floating face down in a pool during the New Zealand Freediving Indoor Nationals in Wellington.
The time improved the 37-year-old's national record for the static apnea discipline by five seconds and put her fourth in the all-time world rankings for women.
She also equalled her personal best with 194m in the dynamics with fins event and swam 151m in the dynamic without fins.
Her combined points tally during the three-day event, which ended on Sunday, was higher than that of men's champion Guy Brew, of Wellington.
The Queenstown Freediving Club member, who is a former world champion in static apnea, said she was ``pushing her limits'' and gave her best performances for a long time.
``It was my first national record in two years and my overall points total was a personal best, which will be hard to beat,'' Nevatt said.
In pool-based freediving, competitors hold their breath during underwater horizontal distance swims and time-based breath holds.
Nevatt said the Queenstown Freediving Club was holding an introductory evening at the Events Centre pool tomorrow evening. Those planning to attend should first get in touch through the club's Facebook page.
Club members would take part in open water freediving training in Lake Wakatipu from December, she said.
