The Lake County's own Jacques Cousteau

A local man has been confirmed as a world record holder after spending 27 hours underwater.Sean McGahern, 35, has been confirmed by the Guinness Book of Records as the new holder of the World Record for the Longest Open Saltwater Scuba Dive.Sean, whose family are from Ballynacargy, set the record of 25hr 10min off Westin Dragonara Resort's Reef Club, Malta, on 19 September last year.But it was not until February that Sean received "full approval from the records office" that his dive stood as an official Guinness record.During the successful attempt Sean spent his time in water of about 25 degrees C, at depths ranging from 12m to 15m. His time was spent monitoring his equipment, tracking his progress and even playing TicTacToe.To keep up his strength Sean consumed nutritious soups, energy gel and even Twix and Mars Bars.Sean works as a long distance lorry driver and is now based in England: "I love coming back to Mullingar and catching up with family and friends. I get home several times a year. This time I was home, I called i the National School in Ballynacargy to tell them all about my dive and to show them my certificate. The kids were great and asked some really great questions about all the work that went in to preparing for the dive itself," says Sean.Although he grew up around water and loved playing along the Royal Canal as a child, it wasn't until he moved to Malta in the late Eighties with his mum and dad that he fell in love with watersports and especially diving.Scuba diving is now a big part of his life, Sean is a qualified instructor and he explains that he is now a household name in diving circles:"I now have people emailing me looking for lessons and I wonder how did you get my address and I discover it's because I am being discussed on blog sites, in magazines and even among really well known experts in the diving world."Sean is now preparing to try to break a double world record by travelling the longest distance continuously submerged in seawater. The record breaking attempt will take place in Malta next summer.