Bernabé: Record Dive to 1,083 feet
Atlanta (Global Adventures): If you ask divers about deep diving, you will get different answers: A newly certified diver may talk about his 60-foot dive for months to come, while experienced technical divers frequently plan dives to the 200 to 300 foot range. However, there is a very small elite group of divers that plans and executes dives in the 800 to 1,000 foot range.
The current known record for the deepest dive stands at 1,083 feet. Pascal Bernabé reached this depth on a dive in the Mediterranean Sea in 2005. Nuno Gomes came close when he reached 1,044 feet during a dive in the Red Sea in the same year. John Bennet, a British scuba diver who is best known for setting a world record by becoming the first person to deep dive below a depth of 1,000 feet on self contained breathing apparatus, did reach 1,010 feet in 2001 during a dive in the Philippines.
Sheck Exley, widely regarded as one of the pioneers of cave diving, died aged 45 on April 6, 1994 while attempting to descend to a depth of over 1,000 feet (300 meters) in a cenote called Zacatón in Mexico. Exley's body was recovered only because he had hooked his arms in the descent line, perhaps to sort out gas issues. His wrist-mounted dive computer did read a maximum depth of 879 feet (268 meters). In 2003 Mark Ellyatt is believed to have dived to a depth of 1,032 feet (315 meters), but that dive has not been independently verified. All of the dives were conducted on open circuit scuba equipment, except for a dive David Shaw performed of the coast of South Africa. In 2004, he descended to 888 feet using a closed-circuit rebreather (CCR).
Ultra-deep diving requires extraordinarily high levels of training, experience, fitness and surface support. Only eight or possibly nine people if you include Mark Ellyatt are known to have ever dived below a depth of 800 feet (240 m) on self contained breathing apparatus. That is fewer than the number of people who have walked on the surface of the moon. The Holy Grail of deep diving was the 1,000 feet (300 meter) mark, first achieved by John Bennett in 2001.
Divers seem to understand the facts about deep diving well: In a recent poll conducted by Global Adventures, 55 percent did know that Pascal Bernabé holds the current record by reaching 1,083 feet. 24 percent of the voters opted for Nuno Gomes, who comes in as a close second by reaching 1,044 feet.
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What kind of surface support would typically be needed to enable such a record-breaking effort?
Say we want to put Panama on the world diving map, a record attempt would be one way to do it.
Thorwald
The requirements would be substantial – both for the diver attempting the dive and for the support team. While I was not present at any of the record dives, I would say that you would need support divers staged at certain depths, access to mixed gases, a decompression chamber close by as a safety precaution, and a team able to operate the chamber, if necessary.
You would also need the capability and expertise to calculate gas switches, ceilings, and decompression times. If the diver(s) use Rebreathers, bailout becomes an issue.
You need to consider environmental factors such as temperature, currents, weather patterns, and adjust the equipment used to attempt the dive accordingly. If you are able t put a qualified team together, you would still need months to plan and prepare for the dive. The dive team needs to work gradually towards the depth, which means every diver involved would have to do many dives to prepare themselves physically and mentally for the new record attempt.
Finding the right location would be crucial, and developing the right mix of sponsors would definitely increase the chances of success.
Would such an attempt put Panama in the spotlight? Yes, but the dive-team putting their lives at risk would get and deserve the most attention.
Interesting question, please keep us posted if anything more than an idea develops!