How long can you hold your breath?

Two nights ago I was in bed like people do when they're tired. Random is as random does and so I held my breath for as long as possible.

After the first attempt, which I thought went on for a respectable amount of time, I decided to time the next go on a stopwatch. In my younger years I swam at the pool quite a bit so holding my breath underwater the length of the pool and back was something I would practice. Anyways, to make a drawn out story shorter, I held my breath for two minutes.

I was elated that I held my breath for that long. I searched for the length of time the average person can hold their breath and was a little shocked to see that it was roughly 30 seconds. I've held my breath before and ended up falling somewhere around 45 seconds. What was different this time around? I incorporated a technique I overheard many years ago, which is to almost hyperventilate before attempting to hold your breath. The principle is similar to what cost Lance Armstrong his titles. The blood becomes super rich in oxygen, therefore allowing a longer period of time to lapse between needing to inhale. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blood_doping

So I researched ways to increase lung capacity and breathing exercises. One article I found said that you should expect to pass out during the exercises and to have people around you. It went on to comment that the average person might not see breath holding as a competitive sport. Maybe you've heard of free diving records (the deepest world record attempt in 2013 by Nicholas Mevoli was 236 feet. He died as a result...not from drowning, but from surfacing and losing consciousness).

This is an usual topic, don't you agree? So of course I dug a little deeper. Do you remember when David Blaine did his record attempt? He lasted 17 some odd minutes. Thinking about my midnight go at it and reaching the two minute mark with my lungs burning, I wondered how the record is set at 22 minutes? Turns out that you're allowed to hyperventilate on pure oxygen before attempting a world record.

And so concludes the topic of breath holding.