500 days isolated in a cave: Beatriz Flamini, elite athlete, sets new world record
Daniel Stewart
The elite athlete, mountaineer, climber and speleologist Beatriz Flamini has left this Friday morning the cave of Motril, Granada, Spain, in which she has remained 500 days. With this, the athlete has beaten the world record for the longest stay in a cave, a challenge that has been carried out without contact with the outside world or time references of any kind, the only time reference she had was her menstrual cycle.
An excited Flamini came out of the cave after 9:00 a.m. local time on Friday, practically on her own feet and to applause. Although she has come out wearing sunglasses, she has taken them off before merging in an eternal embrace with the members of her team, whom she has thanked for all the support provided during the almost year and a half that she has been isolated in this cave of the Costa Tropical of Granada 70 meters underground.
«You are very handsome» said Beatriz with laughter to the people who have been behind this project and who have worn masks to receive her for the safety of the athlete, since she has been 500 days absolutely isolated. She is scheduled to undergo a medical check-up and the supervision of her sports psychologist before getting cleaned up and resting for a while before being able to attend to the media.
However, as soon as she came out, Beatriz admitted that it was an «unbeatable experience» in front of friends, onlookers, project managers and journalists who were waiting for her outside the cave.
The whole process is being recorded and will be used for a documentary series that will record the daily life of the climber underground; meals, exercises, good and bad days, problems and difficulties, doubts, changes in the body and mind, the length of the days and nights, the feeling of having entered an eternal loop of time stopped at four in the morning, moments of terror and euphoria.
Also, lack of memory and concentration, hallucinations, mood swings and unforeseen incidents, all of which have been analyzed from the scientific point of view by various researchers from the University of Granada and the University of Almeria.
A team of speleologists prepared the cave for this adventure, installing water, electricity and the system to ascend and descend the cave safely.
In addition, Beatriz did not maintain contact with the outside, but a communication system was created so that she could send messages to the outside without knowing anything about it. This was the way in which the necessary provisions were made. The system established an intermediate point between the entrance and Beatriz’s base, at that point and through which members of her team took supplies when she requested them and she assisted when needed.
This elite athlete not only sets the record of subway isolation in Spain, which remained for five decades at 103 days, but also surpasses the Italian Christine Lanzoni, who in 2007 spent 269 days inside a subway laboratory, as explained from the Andalusian Federation of Speleology and Canyoning.
The rest of the people who have carried out experiences of isolation in caves have mostly done so in subway laboratories, and maintained some kind of direct communication with the outside; in the case of the world record holder, she also had a watch. Flamini’s challenge goes further, and demonstrates the physical and mental strength of this woman.
– Europa Press
The elite athlete, mountaineer, climber and speleologist Beatriz Flamini has left this Friday morning the cave of Motril, Granada, Spain, in which she has remained 500 days. With this, the athlete has beaten the world record for the longest stay in a cave, a challenge that has been carried out without contact with the outside world or time references of any kind, the only time reference she had was her menstrual cycle.
An excited Flamini came out of the cave after 9:00 a.m. local time on Friday, practically on her own feet and to applause. Although she has come out wearing sunglasses, she has taken them off before merging in an eternal embrace with the members of her team, whom she has thanked for all the support provided during the almost year and a half that she has been isolated in this cave of the Costa Tropical of Granada 70 meters underground.
«You are very handsome» said Beatriz with laughter to the people who have been behind this project and who have worn masks to receive her for the safety of the athlete, since she has been 500 days absolutely isolated. She is scheduled to undergo a medical check-up and the supervision of her sports psychologist before getting cleaned up and resting for a while before being able to attend to the media.
However, as soon as she came out, Beatriz admitted that it was an «unbeatable experience» in front of friends, onlookers, project managers and journalists who were waiting for her outside the cave.
The whole process is being recorded and will be used for a documentary series that will record the daily life of the climber underground; meals, exercises, good and bad days, problems and difficulties, doubts, changes in the body and mind, the length of the days and nights, the feeling of having entered an eternal loop of time stopped at four in the morning, moments of terror and euphoria.
Also, lack of memory and concentration, hallucinations, mood swings and unforeseen incidents, all of which have been analyzed from the scientific point of view by various researchers from the University of Granada and the University of Almeria.
A team of speleologists prepared the cave for this adventure, installing water, electricity and the system to ascend and descend the cave safely.
In addition, Beatriz did not maintain contact with the outside, but a communication system was created so that she could send messages to the outside without knowing anything about it. This was the way in which the necessary provisions were made. The system established an intermediate point between the entrance and Beatriz’s base, at that point and through which members of her team took supplies when she requested them and she assisted when needed.
This elite athlete not only sets the record of subway isolation in Spain, which remained for five decades at 103 days, but also surpasses the Italian Christine Lanzoni, who in 2007 spent 269 days inside a subway laboratory, as explained from the Andalusian Federation of Speleology and Canyoning.
The rest of the people who have carried out experiences of isolation in caves have mostly done so in subway laboratories, and maintained some kind of direct communication with the outside; in the case of the world record holder, she also had a watch. Flamini’s challenge goes further, and demonstrates the physical and mental strength of this woman.
