On October 26 of the same year he pushed himself to 118 metres (387 ft) to set a new world record in the No Limits discipline.

All through the 1990s Pelizzari became famous for his sportive rivalry with the time's other world top freediver, Cuban Francisco "Pipin" Ferreras, originally a close training friend around 1990.

Particularly in No-Limits, Pelizzari and Ferreras pushed each other deeper and deeper, and subsequently Pelizzari enhanced his measures to establish round markers in Constant Weight with 80 metres (260 ft), and in No Limits with 150 metres (490 ft), both these at the same event in October 1999.

The rivalry of Pelizzari and Ferreras became the focus of the 2001 IMAX production Ocean Men: Extreme Dive, directed by renowned under water photographer Bob Talbot.

In 2001, Pelizzari concluded his athletic career with a Variable Weight record of 131 metres (430 ft) and retired thereafter.