List of underwater divers
Appearance
This is a list of underwater divers whose exploits have made them notable.[1]
Pioneers of diving
- Victor Berge – Swedish diving pioneer and author (1891–1974) helmet diving
- James F. Cahill – American scuba diving pioneer (1926–2008) (1926–2008) credited with introducing scuba diving to the USA.[2]
- Jacques-Yves Cousteau – French naval officer, oceanographer, filmmaker and author (1910-1997) (1910–1997)
- Philippe Diolé – French author and undersea explorer (1908–1977)
- Frédéric Dumas – French pioneer of scuba diving (1913–1991) spearfishing, wreck diving
- Émile Gagnan – French engineer and co-inventor of the open circuit demand scuba regulator (1900–1979)
- Gary Gentile – American author and pioneering technical diver (1946–) wreck diving
- Bret Gilliam – Pioneering technical diver and author (1951–2023) (1951–)
- Hans Hass – Austrian biologist, film-maker, and underwater diving pioneer (1919–2013) underwater photography
- Tom Mount – Pioneering technical and cave diver (1939–2022)
- Bill Nagle – American wreck diving pioneer (1952–1993) wreck diving
- Dick Rutkowski – American pioneer in hyperbaric and diving medicine and use of mixed breathing gases for diving diving medicine, diver training
- E. Lee Spence – Underwater archaeologist (1947–) underwater archaeology
- Robert Sténuit – Belgian journalist, writer, underwater archeologist and the first aquanaut. (1933–)
- Philippe Tailliez – French pioneer of scuba diving and underwater photographer (1905–2002) skin & scuba diving
- Teseo Tesei – Italian naval officer and pioneering military diver (1909–1941) inventor of human torpedo
- Arne Zetterström – Swedish diver and researcher (1917–1945) (1917–1945)
Record holders for depth
(Scuba and surface supplied)
- Pascal Bernabé – French claimant to scuba diving depth record
- John Bennett (diver) – British technical diver and former record holder lost in commercial diving incident (1959–2004)
- Jim Bowden – Record breaking technical and cave diver
- Mark Ellyatt – British technical diver and previous depth record holder
- Sheck Exley – American cave and deep diving pioneer and record breaker (1949–1994)
- Ahmed Gabr (current deepest scuba dive record)
- Nuno Gomes (diver) – South African diver and holder of scuba depth record
- Simon Mitchell – New Zealand physician and author on diving medicine
- Claudia Serpieri – Italian technical diver and depth record holder
- Dave Shaw (diver) – Australian technical diver and former record holder killed in a diving incident
- Krzysztof Starnawski – Polish technical and cave diver
Cave divers
- Graham Balcombe – Pioneering British cave diver (1907–2000)
- Jim Bowden – Record breaking technical and cave diver
- Sheck Exley – American cave and deep diving pioneer and record breaker (1949–1994)
- Martyn Farr – British cave diver (1951–)
- Jarrod Jablonski – Pioneer American cave diver, author and previous cave diving record holder (1969–)
- Artur Kozłowski – Polish cave diver (1977–2011) (1977–2011)
- Jack Sheppard – British cave diver (1909–2001)
- Wesley C. Skiles – American cave diver and cinematographer (1958–2010)
- Krzysztof Starnawski – Polish technical and cave diver
- Rick Stanton – British cave diver who specialises in rescues (1961/2–)
- John Volanthen – British volunteer cave diver who specialises in rescues (1971–)
Notable for other reasons
- Eduard Admetlla i Lázaro – Catalan scuba diving pioneer and underwater filmmaker (1924–2019) patented a scuba diving breathing device in 1953,[3][clarification needed] and broke the scuba diving depth record in 1957 by becoming the first person to dive beyond 100 metres (330 ft) using scuba.[4]
- Michael C. Barnette – American underwater diver, author and founder of the Association of Underwater Explorers (born 1971)
- Leigh Bishop – Diver known for shipwreck exploration and photography (born 1968) (shipwreck discovery)
- Berry L. Cannon – American aquanaut who died in a diving incident (1935–1969) (1935–1969)
- John Chatterton – American wreck diver, co-host for History Channel's Deep Sea Detectives series (born 1951) (shipwreck discovery)
- Craig B. Cooper – American aquanaut (born 1949?)
- Fabien Cousteau – Aquanaut, ocean conservationist, and documentary filmmaker (born 1967)
- Jean-Michel Cousteau – French oceanographic explorer (born 1938)
- Philippe Cousteau – French diver and cinematographer (1940–1979) (1940–1979)
- Lionel Crabb – Royal Navy frogman and MI6 diver (1909–1956)
- Billy Deans – American pioneering wreck and technical diver
- Deon Dreyer – South African diver (1974–1994)
- Ted Eldred – Australian inventor of the single hose diving regulator (1920–2005)
- Oscar Gugen – Founder of the British Sub-Aqua Club (born 1910)
- Bob Halstead – Underwater photographer, author, journalist and commentator on the recreational diving industry. (born 1944)
- Jill Heinerth – Canadian diver, writer and underwater filmmaker (born 1965) Underwater explorer
- Mark Hulsbeck – American professional aquanaut (born 1956)
- Karen Kohanowich – American aquanaut and ex US Navy diver
- Richie Kohler – American technical diver and shipwreck historian
- Trevor Jackson – Australian technical diver and author (born 1965)
- Graham Jessop – British commercial diver and marine archaeologist (born 1957)
- Keith Jessop – British salvage diver and treasure hunter (1933–2010)
- Dominic Landucci – American professional aquanaut and Network Analyst at the NOAA Aquarius Reef Base
- Steve Lewis (diver) – Technical scuba diver and author
- Agnes Milowka – Australian cave diver (1981–2011)
- John Mattera – American wreck diver and author (born 1962) (shipwreck discovery)
- Stephanie Schwabe – German geomicrobiologist, diver and underwater researcher (born 1957)
- Willard Franklyn Searle – US Navy ocean engineer and developer of diving and salvage equipment and systems (1924–2009)
- David Shaw – Australian technical diver and former record holder killed in a diving incident (1954–2005)
- Dewey Smith – American aquanaut. Died in diving accident. (1972–2009)
- James Talacek – American professional aquanaut
- Jason deCaires Taylor – British sculptor and creator of the world's first underwater sculpture park (born 1974)
- Joachim Wendler – German aquanaut (1939–1975) (1939-1975)
- Sadio Mané - (born 1992) Football Player for FC Liverpool
Free-divers
- Deborah Andollo – Cuban free diver and diving instructor
- Sara Campbell – British free diver and former world record holder
- Goran Čolak – Croatian free-diver and world record holder
- Carlos Coste – Venezuelan freediver and world record holder
- Robert Croft – American freediver and US Navy diving instructor
- Mandy-Rae Cruickshank – Canadian world champion freediver and record holder
- Yasemin Dalkılıç – Turkish freediver and record holder
- Şahika Ercümen – Turkish dietician and world record holding freediver
- Emma Farrell – British freediving instructor and author
- Francisco Ferreras – Cuban freediver also known as "Pipin"
- Pierre Frolla – Monegasque free-diver and world record holder
- Elisabeth Kristoffersen – Norwegian freediver and president of AIDA Norway
- Loïc Leferme – French freediving record breaker
- Jacques Mayol – French free diver (1927–2001)
- Audrey Mestre – French world record-setting freediver
- Enzo Maiorca – Italian free diver
- Karol Meyer – Brazilian free-diver world record holder and professional cyclist for Avai Cycle Team
- Stéphane Mifsud – French free diver and five time world champion in static apnea
- Alexey Molchanov – Russian world record holder for freediving
- Natalia Molchanova – Russian multiple world record holding freediver (1962–2015)
- Dave Mullins – New Zealand freediver and world record-holder
- Patrick Musimu – Belgian freediver
- Guillaume Néry – French freediver
- Herbert Nitsch – Austrian freediver and world record holder
- Umberto Pelizzari – Italian freediver
- Annelie Pompe – Swedish freediver and mountaineer
- Michal Risian
- Stig Severinsen – Danish freediver, record holder and author
- Tom Sietas – German freediver and record holder
- Aharon Solomons – English-Israeli former Army officer, holder of the Israeli national record for freediving.
- Martin Štěpánek – Czech freediver and record-holder
- Walter Steyn – Australian competitive freediver, freediving judge and freediving instructor
- Tanya Streeter – British-Caymanian-American freediver
- William Trubridge – New Zealand freediver and record holder
- Devrim Cenk Ulusoy – Turkish freediver and world record holder
- Danai Varveri – Greek freediver and record holder
Footnotes
- ^ Notability to qualify for this list is established by having, as a minimum requirement, a biographical article on English Wikipedia, in which their notability as a diver is explained.
- ^ Hanauer, Eric (1994). Diving pioneers: an oral history of diving in America. San Diego: Watersport Publishing Inc. p. 33. ISBN 0-922769-43-5. Retrieved 2009-09-08.
- ^ Patente de invención nº 208713, Madrid 13 abril 1953
- ^ Vidal Sola, Clemente (3 October 1957). "Espana conquista la marca mundial de profundidad con escafandra autonoma". La Vanguardia Espanola. p. 20. Retrieved 14 April 2015.