How long can a person be made to hold their breath safely?

While it is quite common to find answers on this question ranging upward of two, three and even four minutes, understand that the answer to this question will vary from individual to individual. Depending on physcial condition, (asthma, heart problems, age, general health) to personal habits (smoking, drinking, physical stamina, stress level) and yes, to some extent, even geographical location (mountains, low lands, air density, humidty) many factors "may" impact this answer. While many individuals can "hold their breath" for seemingly long periods, all it takes is the right set of circumstances and you can end up with a catostrophe. Breath play can be very dangerous! Don't ever expect that anyone can always acheive a specified period of time at holding their breath. Just because someone can hold their breath today for two minutes does not necessarily mean they'll be able to do it tommorow, or even later today.

"a person without oxygen passes out within three minutes"

After a good search around i found this article

http://www.aquaticape.org.bhdr.html

About 4 months? He must be a mystical guru (charlatan)

Actually the site referred to below focuses more on an argument against evolutionary theories related to ATT/H and is not very accurate. When humans enter water their bodies automatically go into an oxygen conservation mode which allows us to hold our breath much longer than you may imagine. The current record is just over 8 minutes (see the article at http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section=health&id=4136155 for more info). Of course this varies greatly from person to person and requires conditioning. Training with Navy Seals includes this conditioning and it's not uncommon to find Seals that can hold their breath for 6 minutes or more!

about 4 months.