This is a list of underwater divers whose exploits have made them notable.[lower-alpha 1] Underwater divers are people who take part in underwater diving activitiesUnderwater diving is practiced as part of an occupation, or for recreation, where the practitioner submerges below the surface of the water or other liquid for a period which may range between seconds to order of a day at a time, either exposed to the ambient pressure or isolated by a pressure resistant suit, to interact with the underwater environment for pleasure, competitive sport, or as a means to reach a work site for profit or in the pursuit of knowledge, and may use no equipment at all, or a wide range of equipment which may include breathing apparatus, environmental protective clothing, aids to vision, communication, propulsion, maneuverability, buoyancy and safety equipment, and tools for the task at hand.

Who is an underwater diver?

This list refers to people who are notable for their underwater diving activities and for whom a biographical article exists in Wikipedia. The following lists may also be relevant:

Pioneers of diving

Jacques Cousteau
  • Victor Berge – Swedish diving pioneer and author (1891–1974) helmet diving
  • Alberto Gianni – Italian underwater diver and inventor (1891–1930) helmet diving
  • James F. Cahill – American scuba diving pioneer (1926–2008)[1]
  • Alphonseand Théodore Carmagnolle – French inventors of the first anthropomorphic armoured diving suit
  • Charles Condert – Inventor of an unsuccessful early scuba system
  • Jacques Cousteau – French naval officer, oceanographer, filmmaker and author
  • Charles Anthony Deane – Pioneering diving engineer and inventor of a surface supplied diving helmet
  • Guglielmo de Lorena – Italian inventor of a diving bell used for archaeological work on the Roman ships of lake Nemi
  • Auguste Denayrouze – French inventor of a demand air supply regulator for underwater diving
  • Philippe Diolé – French author and undersea explorer (1908–1977)
  • Frédéric Dumas – French pioneer of scuba diving
  • Ted Eldred – Australian inventor of the single hose diving regulator
  • Maurice Fernez – French inventor and pioneer in underwater breathing apparatus
  • Émile Gagnan – French engineer and co-inventor of the open circuit demand scuba regulator
  • Gary Gentile – American author and pioneering technical diver (1946–) wreck diving
  • Bret Gilliam – Pioneering technical diver and author (1951–2023)
  • Edmond Halley – English astronomer, geophysicist, mathematician, meteorologist, and physicist
  • Hans Hass – Austrian biologist, film-maker, and underwater diving pioneer (1919–2013) underwater photography
  • Stig Insulán – Inventor of an adjustable automatic exhaust valve for variable volume dry suits
  • Jim Jarret – Type of atmospheric diving suit. – Diver who test dived the first successful atmospheric diving suits
  • Yves Le Prieur – French naval officer and inventor of a free-flow scuba system
  • John Lethbridge – English wool merchant who invented a diving machine in 1715
  • William Hogarth Main – Cave diver and scuba configuration experimentalist
  • Tom Mount – Pioneering technical and cave diver (1939–2022)
  • Bill Nagle – American wreck diving pioneer (1952–1993) wreck diving
  • Phil Nuytten – Canadian deep-ocean explorer, scientist, and inventor of the Newtsuit
  • Joseph Salim Peress – Pioneering British diving engineer
  • Benoît Rouquayrol – French inventor of an early diving demand regulator
  • Dick Rutkowski – American pioneer in hyperbaric and diving medicine and use of mixed breathing gases for diving diving medicine, diver training
  • Joe Savoie – Diver and inventor of a diving helmet – Inventor of the neck dam for lightweight helmets
  • Augustus Siebe – German-born British engineer mostly known for his contributions to diving equipment
  • Charles Spalding – Scottish confectioner and amateur diving bell designer
  • E. Lee Spence – Underwater archaeologist (1947–) underwater archaeology
  • Robert Sténuit – Belgian journalist, writer, underwater archeologist and the first aquanaut.
  • 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)

Underwater explorers

Underwater scientists, environmentalists and archaeologists

Eugenie Clarke in 2011
Sylvia Earle prepares to dive in a JIM suit
Honor Frost
  • Michael Arbuthnot – Underwater archaeologist and film-maker
  • Carole Baldwin – Vertebrate Zoology department chair at the National Museum of Natural History
  • Robert Ballard – Retired US Navy officer and professor of oceanography
  • George Bass – American pioneer of underwater archaeology (1932–2021)
  • Mensun Bound – British marine archaeologist
  • Eugenie Clark – American ichthyologist, shark researcher and scientific scuba diver
  • James P. Delgado – American maritime archaeologist, explorer and author
  • Sylvia Earle – American marine biologist and lecturer
  • John Christopher Fine – American marine biologist, wreck diver and author
  • George R. Fischer – American underwater archaeologist
  • Anders Franzén – Swedish marine technician and amateur naval archaeologist
  • Honor Frost – Pioneer in underwater archaeology
  • David Gibbins – Underwater archaeologist and novelist
  • Graham Jessop – British commercial diver and marine archaeologist
  • Robert F. Marx – American author and scuba diver (1936–2019)
  • Charles T. Meide – American underwater archaeologist
  • Simon Mitchell – New Zealand physician and author on diving medicine
  • Mark M. Newell – British/American underwater and terrestrial archaeologist and anthropologist
  • John Peter Oleson – Classical archaeologist and historian of ancient technology
  • Margaret Rule – British archaeologist who led the Mary Rose project
  • Dee Scarr – Environmentalist, marine naturalist, and scuba diver
  • Gunter Schöbel – German archaeologist and director of the Pfahlbau Museum Unteruhldingen
  • Stephanie Schwabe – German geomicrobiologist, diver and underwater researcher
  • E. Lee Spence – Underwater archaeologist
  • Robert Sténuit – Belgian journalist, writer, underwater archeologist and the first aquanaut.
  • Peter Throckmorton – American photojournalist and a pioneer underwater archaeologist

Freedivers

Herbert Nitsch
Natalia Molchanova

Scuba divers

  • John Bennett (diver) – British technical diver and former record holder lost in commercial diving incident
  • Pascal Bernabé – French claimant to scuba diving depth record
  • Jim Bowden (diver) – 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
  • Nuno Gomes – 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 – Australian technical diver and former record holder killed in a diving incident
  • Krzysztof Starnawski – Polish technical and cave diver

Surface supplied and saturation divers

Underwater filmmakers

Hans Hass
  • Eduard Admetlla i Lázaro – Catalan scuba diving pioneer and underwater filmmaker
  • Samir Alhafith – Australian technical diver, cave explorer and adult underwater filmmaker
  • Henri Bource – Dutch-Australian scuba diver, underwater filmmaker, musician and shark attack survivor
  • Scott Cassell – American underwater film maker.
  • Jacques Cousteau – French naval officer, oceanographer, filmmaker and author
  • Ben Cropp – Australian documentary filmmaker, conservationist and spearfisherman
  • Hans Hass – Austrian biologist, film-maker, and underwater diving pioneer
  • Jill Heinerth – Canadian diver, writer and underwater filmmaker
  • Kevin Juergensen – Filmmaker, diver, and CEO of Juergensen Marine
  • Henry Kaiser (musician) – American guitarist, film director, and scientific diver
  • Ron Taylor – Australian diver and shark cinematographer
  • Valerie Taylor – Australian underwater photographer
  • Stan Waterman – American cinematographer and underwater film producer (1923–2023)
  • Andrew Wight – Australian screenwriter and producer (1959–2012)

Underwater photographers

Tamara Benitez
Peter Scoones
Brian Skerry
  • Tamara Benitez – Filipina cinematographer
  • Georges Beuchat – French inventor, diver and businessman
  • Adrian Biddle – English cinematographer
  • Jonathan Bird – American photographer, cinematographer, director and television host.
  • Eric Cheng – Taiwanese American entrepreneur and professional photographer
  • Neville Coleman – Australian naturalist, underwater photographer, writer, publisher and educator
  • Jacques Cousteau – French naval officer, oceanographer, filmmaker and author
  • John D. Craig – American businessman, writer, soldier, and diver
  • Ben Cropp – Australian documentary filmmaker, conservationist and spearfisherman
  • Bernard Delemotte – French diver and photographer (1939–2023)
  • David Doubilet – Underwater photographer and author
  • John Christopher Fine – American marine biologist, wreck diver and author
  • Dermot FitzGerald – Irish photographer
  • Rodney Fox – Australian diver, film maker and conservationist
  • Ric Frazier – American photographer
  • Stephen Frink – Underwater photographer and publisher
  • Peter Gimbel – American filmmaker and underwater photojournalist (1927–1987)
  • Monty Halls – British TV broadcaster, diver and naturalist
  • Hans Hass – Austrian biologist, film-maker, and underwater diving pioneer
  • Henry Way Kendall – American particle physicist who won the Nobel Prize in Physics
  • Rudie Hermann Kuiter – Dutch-born Australian underwater photographer, taxonomist, and marine biologist
  • Joseph B. MacInnis – Canadian physician, author, poet and aquanaut
  • Luis Marden – American photographer, explorer, writer, filmmaker, diver, navigator, and linguist
  • Agnes Milowka – Australian cave diver
  • Bruce Mozert – American photographer
  • Noel Monkman – New Zealand born Australian filmmaker specialising in underwater photography
  • Steve Parish – British born Australian photographer and publisher
  • Zale Parry – American pioneer scuba diver, underwater photographer and actress
  • Pierre Petit – French photographer (1831–1909)
  • Leni Riefenstahl – German film director (1902–2003)
  • Peter Scoones – Underwater cameraman
  • Brian Skerry – American photojournalist
  • Wesley C. Skiles – American cave diver and cinematographer
  • E. Lee Spence – Underwater archaeologist
  • Philippe Tailliez – French pioneer of scuba diving and underwater photographer
  • Ron Taylor – Australian diver and shark cinematographer
  • Valerie Taylor – Australian underwater photographer
  • Albert Tillman – American educator and underwater diver
  • John Veltri – American filmmaker and underwater photographer
  • Stan Waterman – American cinematographer and underwater film producer (1923–2023)
  • Michele Westmorland – American underwater photographer
  • J. Lamar Worzel – American geophysicist and underwater photographer

Underwater artists

Christ of the Abyss at San Fruttuoso, Liguria

Combat divers, frogmen and saboteurs

Lionel Crabb
  • Lionel Crabb – Royal Navy frogman and MI6 diver
  • Ian Edward Fraser – Royal Navy Victoria Cross recipient (1920–2008)
  • Sydney Knowles – British naval frogman during and after WWII
  • John H. Lang – American soldier and sailor (1899–1970)
  • Alain Mafart – French military officer convicted for his part in the bombing of the Rainbow Warrior
  • Teseo Tesei – Italian naval officer and pioneering military diver

Aquanauts

Scott Carpenter
Sylvia Earle displays samples to aquanaut inside TEKTITE
Albert Falco in 2011
Michael Gernhardt
Karen Kohanowich
Sunita Williams

Aquanaut – Diver who remains at depth underwater for longer than 24 hours

Cave divers

  • Graham Balcombe – Pioneering British cave diver (1907–2000)
  • Jon Lindbergh – Pioneering American cave diver and early aquanaut (1932-2021)
  • 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

(to be allocated)

  • 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 (shipwreck discovery)
  • John Chatterton – American wreck diver, co-host for History Channel's Deep Sea Detectives series(shipwreck discovery)
  • Jean-Michel Cousteau – French oceanographic explorer
  • Billy Deans (diver) – American pioneering wreck and technical diver
  • Leonardo D'Imporzano – Italian free-diver and AIDA International Judge
  • Deon Dreyer – South African diver (1974–1994)
  • Oscar Gugen – Founder of the British Sub-Aqua Club
  • Bob Halstead – Underwater photographer, author, journalist and commentator on the recreational diving industry.
  • Mehgan Heaney-Grier – American free-diver, fashion model, actress, conservationist and television personality
  • Paul Hosie – Australian cave diver
  • Keith Jessop – British salvage diver and treasure hunter
  • Richie Kohler – American technical diver and shipwreck historian
  • Steve Lewis (diver) – Technical scuba diver and author
  • John Mattera – American wreck diver and author (shipwreck discovery)
  • Lesley Rochat – South African underwater photographer, filmmaker and environmental activist
  • Willard Franklyn Searle – US Navy ocean engineer and developer of diving and salvage equipment and systems
  • Bill Nagle – American wreck diving pioneer
  • Aristotelis Zervoudis – Greek professional diver (born 1964)

See also

Footnotes

  1. 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.

References

  1. 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.
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