B.C. freediver helps students break records and Hollywood stars get the perfect shot

Kirk Krack’s passion for diving continues to push into new areas of exploration.

His latest project has him mapping out even more dive sites in B.C. waters.

For more than three decades Krack has been training and educating the diving community. He’s a trailblazer in freediving, writing the book on safety and technique and leading his students to the pinnacle of their sport.

“In freediving I’ve trained seven different athletes to 23 world records and a dozen or so athletes to hundreds of national records,” Krack told Global’s This is BC.

He’s worked on the documentaries Racing Extinction and The Cove.

Even Hollywood has called upon his expertise, and he trained Margot Robbie to hold her breath for an extended period for the movie Suicide Squad.

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Krack even ended up playing Batman in that underwater scene. It turns out he was made for the role.

2:14 This Is BC: Abbotsford man proves you are never too old to play Canada’s favourite game

“The head of stunts asked me if I knew anyone with my jawline, about six-foot-three who might want to do a stunt and had a great breath hold,” Krack said.

It was Krack who taught Tom Cruise to hold his breath for six minutes for an intense underwater scene in Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation. Cruise requested a lot more training then he actually needed.

“He managed to do 130 feet, 40 metre breath hold dives over the course of a couple of days, so really remarkable what he was capable of,” Krack said.

Now Krack is working with James Cameron on Avatar 2 and Avatar 3 after a chance encounter on a flight to L.A.

“I went and handed him the card and said, ‘Nothing ventured, nothing gained,’ and I was about to say something else when he said, ‘How long can you hold your breath?'”

The answer to that question is seven minutes.

For a guy from Saskatchewan, which is not exactly a diving hotbed, Krack has carved out an incredible career while continuing to push to new depths below the surface.

“Diving for me is going to be something that’s going to be lifelong and I don’t think I’ll ever take a step back,” said Krack.

To contact Jay Durant with a story idea for This is BC, email him details and contact information at thisisbc@globalnews.ca