Incredible Scuba Records
Liz Thompson Aug 07, 2019
Have you ever wanted to be famous? What about famous doing something that you love - scuba diving? In this blog we will introduce some of the coolest world records set by scuba divers and some of the certifications and equipment you might need if you want to set a new record.
The first records to explore are the deepest scuba dive for both males and females. The deepest depth by a man while scuba diving was achieved an Egyptian diver named Ahmed Gabr, who dove to a depth of 332.35 meters (1,090 ft 4.5 in). This record was achieved in September 2014 in the Red Sea near Dahab. The deepest dive done by a female diver was in October 2004 when Verna van Schaik dove to 221 meters (725 ft). Her dive lasted 5 hours and 34 mins in the Boesmansgat Cave in South Africa. If these are some records that you want to attempt to break you have a lot of learning to do beforehand! You’ll need a plethora of certifications - including advanced trimix, heli-ox, advanced decompression procedures and many others.
Another record that we will look at is “Most Front Somersaults Underwater in one hour while SCUBA diving”. On August 8th, 2016 this record was set by Daniel Bowman who did a total of 308 total front somersaults in a pool in American Fort, Utah, USA. He achieved this record in an attempt to raise money for charity and, to our knowledge, there are no additional certifications required. So, if you want to break this record go for it!
If you want to attempt to beat the longest open saltwater SCUBA dive, you’re going to need a lot of preparation. The longest open saltwater scuba dive by a female is 51 hours and 25 minutes. The rules for this record are that you have to be submerged at a depth exceeding 5 meters for the whole of the attempt and the diver who holds this record attempted it to raise funds, and attention, for the “Put Cancer Under Pressure” campaign. Cristi Quill achieved this amazing accomplishment on July 11th, 2015 at La Jolla Shores in San Diego, California. The longest open saltwater dive by a male is 142 hours, 42 minutes, and 42 seconds and was set by Cem Karabay on July 20, 2016 in Cyprus. Is this a record you want to break? If so, we recommend getting your dry suit certification, although the certification is not necessary, it will make for a more comfortable time during your long immersion.
Breaking records isn’t just for the young- but also for the young at heart! The record for the oldest male scuba diver was achieved at age 95 (and 4 days) by Wallace Raymond Woolley, who broke his previous record of 94 years which was set on his previous birthday. He achieved this record on September 1st, 2018 while diving on at the Zenobia shipwreck in Larnaca Bay, Cyprus. And if you have a significant other Dive Buddy who you want to dive with well into old age, there’s a record for you. The oldest married couple to scuba dive had an aggregate young age of 171 years and 329 days when they broke this record on July 4th, 2017.
Another fun record that you can attempt to break is the ‘most underwater rope jumps in one hour’ while scuba diving record. Ashrita Furman achieved this record in March of 2012 when he “skipped” over 1,608 360-degree revolutions while scuba diving. He accomplished this while diving in Sao Paulo, Brazil on March 15, 2012.
Following on the strain of “weird” SCUBA records is Markus Just’s record of the longest duration of juggling three objects underwater while SCUBA diving. He achieved this at the Freizeit Messe Nuremberg in Neremberg, Germany when he juggled three objects for one hour and forty minutes on March 3th, 2013. All you need for this certification is dive gear and something to juggle!
These are only a couple of the interesting records that you can beat one day. If you want to see more, check it out online via the Guinness Book Of World Records. We look forward to helping you break any records that you might want to in the future!
(All facts and pictures are courtesy of guinnessworldrecords.com)
