This is so cool!!!!
Congratulations to Dan and all of his team and supporters!!
9:15 a.m., Monday
Dan Misiaszek, the San Marcos endurance diver who has been underwater since Friday, is only hours away from breaking the world record of 51 hours spent continuously below the surface.
With only about three hours left, Kathy Misiaszek said her husband was in good spirits this morning.
"He made it through the night very well," she said. "He's very positive right now."
With multiple oxygen tanks, cameras and a wireless communication headset, Misiaszek headed 22 feet into Aquarena Springs on Friday. He is set to emerge from the springs at about 12:20 p.m. today.
When his wife asked if he would finish, Kathy Misiaszek said, "He gave me a definite thumbs up and said, 'Yes.' "
Noon, Sunday
Warm sunshine and a supportive public brightened the day for Daniel Misiaszek, the San Marcos police sergeant trying to make history with a 60-hour endurance dive. After a cold and sleepless night 22 feet underwater, Misiaszek was buoyed by the sight of children in the Aquarena Springs Submarine theater this morning.
"We're getting a few people coming in through the submarine, and he's in real good spirits," said Misiaszek's wife, Kathy, an expert diver who helped coordinate the event. "He's laughing and joking with the people and has been talking to some of the crowd in the submarine. Things are looking up."
Children are fascinated by Misiaszek's subaquatic arrangement, she said. Misiaszek kept the crowd — and himself — entertained by playing underwater frisbee and checkers with fellow divers. He also responded to questions through a speaker attached to his headgear.
"The biggest question kids have is how he goes to the bathroom and what he ate," Kathy Misiaszek laughed. "One of them asked how he brushed his teeth underwater."
The diver's suit is equipped with a catheter, and he gets his nutrition through a liquid diet of Gatorade and pediatric electrolyte served through a tube.
Misiaszek's goal in setting a new continuous dive record (the current one is 51 hours, 4 minutes) is to raise money for the dive team he formed in 1988. Team members have set up donation jars at the Aquarena Center to help pay for needed equipment. They are also raffling a scuba tank and selling T-shirts that read "I helped break a world record."
Whatever people can contribute, Kathy Misiaszek, provides her husband "incentive to stay down for 60 hours." She said she hopes people will make a special effort to be at the center tomorrow at noon when Dan emerges from the water.
— Eileen E. Flynn
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
10 a.m., Sunday
Now past the halfway point of his 60-hour endurance dive, Dan Misiaszek is battling chills, fatigue and poor nutrition 22 feet under the surface of Aquarena Springs in San Marcos. But his wife, Kathy Misiaszek, says he's in "as good a spirit as possible."
Temperature has proven to be Misiaszek's greatest enemy so far in his attempt to set a world record and raise money for the San Marcos Area Recovery Team. Fellow divers had to go underwater last night and readjust Misiaszek's gear for a second time, outfitting him with an additional dry suit. Even after that, it took him an hour to warm up, and Kathy Misiaszek said she expects tonight will be rough, too. She plans to stay underwater with her husband for much of the night to offer moral support.
As for sleep, Misiaszek has had little. He got only three hours last night — not enough to restore his energy. "He never gets into that deep sleep where his body actually rejuvenates," Kathy Misiaszek said. And he has lost his appetite, making the task of feeding him nutritional liquids more of a challenge. But, she noted, the public's presence at the Aquarena Springs Submarine Theater has provided Misiaszek an enormous psychological boost. "Today (the weather) is beautiful," Kathy said. "We're expecting a good crowd."
The public can view Misiaszek from an underwater theater at the Aquarena Center, on Southwest Texas State University campus. The current endurance dive record is 51 hours, four minutes.
— Eileen E. Flynn
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
10:50 p.m., Saturday
Endurance diver Dan Misiaszek was dozing late tonight, with members of the SMART recovery diving team watching to be sure that he remained comfortable and safe.
"We're hoping he sleeps all night," said wife Kathy Misiaszek. "But he has to wake up every 2 1/2 hours to switch air tanks. Somebody'll be with him all the time without sleep, to be alert in case anything goes wrong with him or his gear."
The chills he felt earlier in the day were forgotten, his wife said, with warm water piped in between his dry suit and an outer wet suit to keep him cozy.
Meanwhile, the watchers, including a few close friends, were doing their best to remember not to eat in front of Misiaszek, to avoid reminding him that he can't eat solid food until he surfaces at noon on Monday.
"We sneak off to (eat)," Kathy said. "He had his evening meal of beef bullion and unflavored Pedi-lyte," a nutritional supplement normally given to dehydrated infants.
"He was real happy with the bullion," she said.
With sunshine and warmer temperatures forecast for Sunday, organizers are hoping for a better turnout than they had Saturday, enabling them to sell more tee-shirts and gain more sponsors to help raise money for the dive team.
— Dick Stanley
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
7:50 p.m., Saturday
After two short naps and a meal of warm liquids, Dan Misiaszek appeared to be "much, much, much better," according to wife Kathy. The chills behind him, Misiaszek was in better spirits Saturday evening, as the Aquarena Center closed for the night and began to settle in. The underwater theater will remain open overnight for visitors, friends and family, event organizers said.
It was mostly friends and family who stayed behind in the evening — about 20 of them, in SMART diver T-shirts, watched Dan Misiaszek as they ate a fast-food fried chicken dinner. The endurance diver, on the other hand, can't even think about chicken until noon Monday, if he wants to set the record.
The turnout has been promising, Kathy said. "We've had a lot of people stop by to inquire about it, which is pretty good," she said. "Hopefully we'll have more out here on Monday, when Dan comes out."
— Erik Rodriguez
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3:30 p.m., Saturday
Dan Misiaszek caught a chill that he couldn't seem to shake this morning during the first stretch of his planned 60-hour endurance dive in the San Marcos River.
A team of four divers went under to outfit Misiaszek with a wet suit over his full-body dry suit and then pumped in hot water between the suits to warm him. The dry suit is designed to keep the diver dry inside, but he had complained of being cold this morning. The dive had hit another snag earlier when heavy rains Friday night caused the official time clock to malfunction. It did not begin recording the dive until 12:25 a.m. today. Misiaszek, a San Marcos Police sergeant, hopes to break the current endurance dive record of 51 hours, four minutes, to raise money for the San Marcos Area Recovery Team he formed in 1988.
While one can't exactly order in pizza underwater, Misiaszek is getting food — of sorts. The diving team feeds him warm nutritional liquids (Gatorade and pediatric electrolyte) through a tube.
Misiaszek's wife, Kathy, predicted the next few nights will be rough on the aspiring record breaker, but she said by Sunday he should see a "light at the end of the tunnel."
The endurance dive has sparked public curiosity. About 30 people gathered in the underwater theater at the Aquarena Center on Southwest Texas State University campus in San Marcos this afternoon to view Misiaszek in his temporary habitat.
— Eileen E. Flynn and Erik Rodriguez
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
9:00 a.m., Saturday
By 8 a.m. today, Dan Misiaszek dozed off after getting adjusted underwater for his planned 60-hour endurance dive, an attempt at the record books for the San Marcos police sergeant. Misiaszek headed down 22 feet into Aquarena Springs at midnight and aims to beat the current record, a 51-hour-four-minute dive, to help raise money for the San Marcos Area Recovery Team he formed in 1988.
"He's in the water, and we're just supporting him with hydration, nutrition and air," said Misiaszek's wife, Kathy, an expert diver who helped coordinate the event. "Right now he's sleeping, so I would say he's fairly comfortable."
Misiaszek, along with a team of support divers, can communicate with the diver through a two-way radio, and the public can view Misiaszek from an underwater theater at the Aquarena Center on the Southwest Texas Sate University campus in San Marcos.
Kathy Misiaszek said her husband complained of a chill around 2 a.m. but has had no other problems. "He seems to be in good spirits," she said.
— Eileen Flynn
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
AI
