The Spanish athlete broke the world record for the longest time voluntarily spent in a cave, if there was such a thing.
Beatriz Flamini was 48 years old when she descended into the cave in Granada on November 21, 2021. He is now 50 years old, and no one has spent so much time cut off from everything, 70 meters deep in the belly of a mountain, as he has voluntarily.
The world was still in a fever in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic. Vladimir Putin has not yet begun his invasion of Ukraine. The Spanish extreme athlete has been living in a cave in Granada since November 20, 2021, in an experiment supervised by scientists. During this time, he had no contact with the outside world and no information about what was happening.
“I’m still stuck on November 21, 2021,” he said after emerging from the cave. “I don’t know anything about the world.”
The subject of the experiment was monitored by a group of psychologists, researchers and speleologists – who specialize in the study of caves – but none of the experts contacted him.
Beatrice lived for nearly two years with 1,000 liters of water and 60 books. In the 70-meter-deep cave, he trained, painted, and knitted woolen hats. He stopped counting the days after a while.
“There was a moment when I had to stop counting the days,” he said, adding that he believed he spent “160 to 170 days” in the cave.
For about two years, no one spoke to him, nor did he speak, except occasionally to himself. Spanish TVE cameras caught him emerging from the cave. He smiled and said it was an “unprecedented experience”.
He lost his balance, so his team supported him in the first minutes, and this is how he responded to reporters’ questions.
“I’ve lost my balance, that’s why they support me. If they let me, I’ll take a shower—I haven’t seen running water in a year and a half—we’ll see you soon. Is that a problem?”
The latter said that the most difficult moment was when flies invaded the cave. He also had hallucinations.
In the experiment, the experts studied how isolation and harsh conditions affect human perception of time.
According to the Spanish Athlete’s Team, Beatriz Flamini broke the world record for the longest time spent volunteering in a cave, if any, because the Guinness Book of Records did not confirm that there was a record for the time spent volunteering in a cave. .
What has been held so far is the record for “longest survival for people trapped underground”, given to 33 miners from Chile and Bolivia who spent 69 days 688 meters underground after a gold mine collapse in Chile in 2010.
