CHICAGO — Submerged in a water-filled sphere on the stage of “The Oprah Winfrey Show” during a live broadcast, David Blaine held his breath for 17 minutes and 4 seconds in an attempt to set a new breath-holding record. That bested the previous record of 16 minutes and 32 seconds, set Feb. 10 by Switzerland’s Peter Colat, according to Guinness World Records.

Before his attempt, Blaine was allowed to inhale pure oxygen for up to 30 minutes, although he inhaled for only 23 minutes. A Guinness World Records judge was on hand to certify the feat.

In May 2006, Blaine tried to set another type of breath-holding record. Without breathing pure oxygen beforehand, he tried to break the existing record of 8 minutes, 58 seconds. But he had to be rescued shortly after 7 minutes when he was unconscious and having convulsions.