In 2003, Louise Trewavas traveled to Dahab, Egypt with her dive gear, headed to the Blue Hole, and plunged to 300 feet. There, with iron in hand, Trewavas broke the world record for extreme ironing underwater. Last month, rival diver John Rudolph beat her record when he descended to more than 423 feet and ironed, um, extremely. Rudolph's elation was short-lived, however. Two weeks ago, Trewavas returned to the Blue Hole and reclaimed her world record at a depth of 450 feet. Wearing her rebreather and sporting a shiny new iron, Trewavas ironed what appears to be a Wonder Woman t-shirt (wanna see the video?)

So why would anyone participate in this seemingly ridiculous activity? After all, isn't there enough to worry about when diving to 400+ feet that trying to do some ironing just adds to the confusion? According to Trewavas, "Extreme ironing is for people who do extreme sports but don't take themselves too seriously...Diving is about having fun, it's not about being a complete nutter." Right.

To understand fully what extreme ironing is all about, I think you have to understand irony: "An expression or utterance marked by a deliberate contrast between apparent and intended meaning." Clearly, ironing is not normally considered extreme. However, when you mix one of the world's most mundane activities with one of the world's most dangerous activities, you get Extreme Ironing. I think it sounds like a fun one-off. I'd like to participate in an extreme ironing event some day. What about you? A cool idea or a waste of time?