LAUDERDALE-BY-THE-SEA — It's no fish tale. After 51 hours, 4 minutes and 28 seconds underwater, "The Grouper" rose from the seas in triumph — back to the land where he belonged.

Allen Sherrod, a determined diver with a dream, reclaimed the world diving record Saturday for the longest time submerged in open saltwater.

The record was a title that Sherrod, known as "The Grouper," originally claimed in 2011 with a 48-hour-and-13-minute dive off Lauderdale-by-the-Sea. When a diver off Malta broke it last year, Sherrod set out to clinch the record once more.

"The only challenge was doing the time," Sherrod said shortly after returning to land. "Just hanging out and not getting excited about getting out too early."

Spectators on the beach cheered as they saw the diver raise his arms toward the sky in victory. His pruned hands were ashen and swollen. He knew precisely what he craved after more than two days on a mostly liquid diet of Gatorade and a rice-meal energy drink.

"I'm ready to eat my grouper tenders, eat some fries and take a nap," said Sherrod, 48.

The two days and nights spent by Sherrod underwater all began about 6:30 a.m. Thursday, when he plunged into the ocean.

Two divers stayed by Sherrod's side at all times to keep watch. They closely observed his rising chest as he slept and even checked for messy handwriting on a magnetic board that could clue them in to any decline in his physical state, said lead safety diver Jose Mijares.

"He had sensory deprivation, sleep deprivation," he said. "He goes through emotional roller coasters."

Sherrod easily entertained himself with the world that surrounded him at about 15 to 18 feet in depth.

He organized "sand dollar races" by digging up sand dollars only to watch them slowly burrow themselves under the sea floor again.