How Long Can You Hold Your Breath? June 6, 2012, 3:31 pm In describing Noomi Rapace's underwater cover shoot recently, we wrote that the actor "was able to stay submerged for what seemed like minutes at a time." And it did seem like that - so much so that our original words didn't even include that "what seemed like." But then a copy editor here, who obviously has no use for mermaids, raised a skeptical eyebrow at the claim that Rapace held her breath for minutes. So we added the qualifier. This week we're feeling a little better about our first impressions. Last weekend, according to The Daily Mail, a German free diver held his breath underwater for 22 minutes and 22 seconds. Now let's see what the copy desk has to say about the merman Tom Sietas and his supposedly 20-percent-larger-than-normal lungs.