Outline of underwater divers

Agnes Milowka

Underwater divers are people who take part in underwater diving activities – Underwater 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:

• Index of underwater divers – Alphabetical listing of articles about underwater divers
• List of underwater divers – List of underwater divers whose exploits have made them notable.

Pioneers of diving

Jacques Cousteau

• James F. Cahill – American scuba diving pioneer
• Alphonse and Théodore Carmagnolle – French inventors of the first anthropomorphic armoured diving suit
• Charles Condert – Inventor of an unsuccessful early scuba system
• Jacques Cousteau – French inventor of open circuit scuba, pioneer diver, author, film-maker and marine researcher
• 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
• 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, respirators and gas masks
• Émile Gagnan – French engineer and co-inventor of the open circuit demand scuba regulator
• Bret Gilliam – Pioneering technical diver and author.
• Edmond Halley – English astronomer, geophysicist, mathematician, meteorologist, and physicist
• Hans Hass – Austrian biologist, film-maker, and underwater diving pioneer
• Stig Insulán – Inventor of an adjustable automatic exhaust valve for variable volume dry suits
• Jim Jarret – 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
• Phil Nuytten – Canadian deep-ocean explorer, scientist, and inventor of the Newtsuit
• Joseph Salim Peress – Pioneering British diving engineer, inventor of some of the first truly usable atmospheric diving suits
• 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
• Joe Savoie – 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
• Robert Sténuit – Belgian journalist, writer, underwater archeologist and the first aquanaut.
• Arne Zetterström – Diver involved in experimental work with Hydrox breathing gas

Underwater explorers

• Sheck Exley – American cave and deep diving pioneer and record breaker
• Martyn Farr – British cave diver
• Jill Heinerth – Canadian diver, writer and underwater filmmaker
• William Hogarth Main – Cave diver and scuba configuration experimentalist
• Agnes Milowka – Australian cave diver
• Bill Stone – American engineer, caver and explorer
• Krzysztof Starnawski – Polish technical and cave diver

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
• Robert Ballard – Retired US Navy officer and a professor of oceanography known for maritime archaeology and archaeology of shipwrecks
• George Bass – American pioneer of underwater archaeology
• 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, explorer, and author
• 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 – Pioneer American scuba diver known for work with shipwrecks and treasure hunting
• Charles T. Meide – American underwater archaeologist
• 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

Record breakers

Freedivers

Herbert Nitsch

Natalia Molchanova

• 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 freediving world record holder
• Audrey Mestre – French world record-setting freediver
• Enzo Maiorca – Italian free diver who held several world records
• 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 freediver and world record holder
• Natalia Molchanova – Russian multiple world record holding freediver
• 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 – Czech and Slovak freediving champion
• Stig Severinsen – Danish freediver, record holder and author
• Tom Sietas – German freediver and record holder
• Aharon Solomons – Anglo-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

Underwater filmmakers

Hans Hass

• Eduard Admetlla i Lázaro – Catalan scuba diving pioneer and underwater filmmaker
• Samir Alhafith – Australian technical diver, cave explorer and underwater filmmaker
• Henri Bource – Dutch scuba diver, underwater filmmaker, musician and shark attack survivor
• Scott Cassell – American underwater film maker.
• Jacques Cousteau – French inventor of open circuit scuba, pioneer diver, author, film-maker and marine researcher
• 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 and Valerie Taylor – Australian divers and shark cinematographers
• Stan Waterman – Cinematographer and underwater film producer
• Andrew Wight – Australian screenwriter and producer

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 inventor of open circuit scuba, pioneer diver, author, film-maker and marine researcher
• John D. Craig – American businessman, writer, soldier, and diver
• Ben Cropp – Australian documentary filmmaker, conservationist and spearfisherman
• Bernard Delemotte – French diver and photographer
• David Doubilet – Underwater photographer and author
• John Christopher Fine – American marine biologist, wreck diver and author
• Dermot FitzGerald – Irish businessman
• 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
• 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 Kuiter
• 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
• 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 – Early French photographer. First to attempt underwater photography
• Leni Riefenstahl – German film director, producer, screenwriter, editor, photographer, actress and dancer
• Peter Scoones – Underwater cameraman
• Brian Skerry – American photojournalist
• Wesley C. Skiles – American cave diver and underwater cinematographer.
• E. Lee Spence – Underwater archaeologist
• Philippe Tailliez – French pioneer of scuba diving and underwater photographer
• Ron and Valerie Taylor – Australian divers and shark cinematographers
• Albert Tillman – American educator and underwater diver.
• John Veltri – American filmmaker and underwater photographer
• Stan Waterman – Cinematographer and underwater film producer
• J. Lamar Worzel – American geophysicist and underwater photographer

Underwater artists

Christ of the Abyss at San Fruttuoso, Liguria

• Jason deCaires Taylor – British sculptor and creator of the world's first underwater sculpture park

Combat divers, frogmen and saboteurs

Lionel Crabb

• Lionel Crabb – Royal Navy frogman and MI6 diver
• Ian Edward Fraser – British military diver. Recipient of the Victoria Cross
• Sydney Knowles – British naval frogman during and after WWII
• John H. Lang – American who served with the Canadian Army in World War I and then with the United States Navy through World War II
• 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

• Astronauts
  • Joseph M. Acaba – American educator, hydrogeologist, and NASA astronaut
  • Clayton Anderson – Retired NASA astronaut and member of the ISS Expedition 15 crew
  • Richard R. Arnold – American educator and NASA astronaut on Space Shuttle mission STS-119
  • Serena Auñón-Chancellor – American physician, engineer, and NASA astronaut
  • Michael Barratt (astronaut) – American aerospace medicine physician and a NASA astronaut with two flights
  • Robert L. Behnken – United States Air Force officer, NASA astronaut and former Chief of the Astronaut Office
  • Randolph Bresnik – United States Marine Corps officer and a NASA astronaut on three expeditions
  • Scott Carpenter – American test pilot, astronaut and aquanaut
  • Gregory Chamitoff – Canadian born engineer and NASA astronaut
  • Catherine Coleman – American chemist and former United States Air Force officer and NASA astronaut
  • Timothy Creamer – NASA flight director, retired astronaut and a colonel in the United States Army
  • Jeanette J. Epps – American aerospace engineer and NASA astronaut
  • Andrew J. Feustel – American geophysicist and NASA astronaut
  • Michael Fincke – United States Air Force officer and NASA astronaut
  • Satoshi Furukawa – Japanese surgeon and JAXA astronaut
  • Ronald J. Garan Jr. – American astronaut
  • Michael L. Gernhardt – NASA astronaut and manager of Environmental Physiology Laboratory
  • Chris Hadfield – retired Canadian astronaut
  • Jeremy Hansen – Canadian astronaut with the Canadian Space Agency
  • José M. Hernández – American engineer and former NASA astronaut
  • John Herrington – Retired United States Naval Aviator and former NASA astronaut
  • Akihiko Hoshide – Japanese engineer and JAXA astronaut
  • Norishige Kanai – Japanese doctor and JAXA astronaut
  • Scott Kelly (astronaut) – American engineer, retired astronaut, and retired U.S. Navy Captain
  • Timothy Kopra – Engineer, Colonel in the United States Army, and former commander of the International Space Station
  • Michael López-Alegría – Spanish-American astronaut
  • Sandra Magnus – American engineer and former NASA astronaut
  • Thomas Marshburn – American physician and NASA astronaut
  • K. Megan McArthur – American oceanographer and NASA astronaut
  • Jessica Meir
  • Dorothy Metcalf-Lindenburger – Former American astronaut
  • Andreas Mogensen – Danish engineer and ESA astronaut
  • Soichi Noguchi – Japanese aeronautical engineer and a JAXA astronaut
  • Karen Nyberg – American mechanical engineer and NASA astronaut
  • John D. Olivas – American engineer and a former NASA astronaut
  • Takuya Onishi – Japanese engineer, commercial pilot and astronaut from JAXA
  • Luca Parmitano – Italian engineer, pilot and ESA astronaut
  • Nicholas Patrick – Cantonese engineer and former NASA astronaut
  • Tim Peake – British Army Air Corps officer and European Space Agency astronaut
  • Thomas Pesquet – French aerospace engineer, pilot, and European Space Agency astronaut
  • Marc Reagan – American Station Training Lead in Mission Operations at NASA's Johnson Space Center
  • Garrett Reisman – American engineer and former NASA astronaut
  • Kathleen Rubins – American microbiologist and NASA astronaut
  • David Saint-Jacques – Canadian engineer, astrophysicist, physician and CSA astronaut
  • Heidemarie Stefanyshyn-Piper – American Naval officer and former NASA astronaut
  • Hervé Stevenin – European aquanaut at the European Astronaut Centre
  • Nicole Stott – American engineer and NASA astronaut
  • Daniel M. Tani – American engineer and NASA astronaut
  • Robert Thirsk – Canadian engineer and physician, and former CSA astronaut
  • Bill Todd – Project Manager for Exploration Analogs at NASA's Johnson Space Center
  • Mark T. Vande Hei – American engineer and NASA astronaut
  • Koichi Wakata – Japanese engineer and a JAXA astronaut
  • Rex J. Walheim – United States Air Force officer, engineer and a NASA astronaut.
  • Shannon Walker – American scientist and NASA astronaut
  • Douglas H. Wheelock – American engineer and astronaut.
  • Peggy Whitson – American biochemistry researcher and NASA astronaut
  • Dafydd Williams – Canadian physician, public speaker and retired CSA astronaut
  • Jeffrey Williams (astronaut) – Retired United States Army officer and NASA astronaut
  • Sunita Williams – The indo-American astronaut and United States Navy officer
  • Gregory R. Wiseman – American astronaut, engineer, and naval aviator
  • Kimiya Yui – Japanese pilot and JAXA astronaut
• Andrew Abercromby – Biomedical engineer
• Timothy J. Broderick – Professor of Surgery and Biomedical Engineering at the University of Cincinnati
• Berry L. Cannon – American aquanaut who died in a diving incident.
• Justin Brown (aquanaut) – American professional aquanaut and habitat technician
• Steve Chappell – American aerospace engineer
• Robin Cook (American novelist) – American physician and novelist
• Craig B. Cooper – American aquanaut
• Fabien Cousteau – Aquanaut, ocean conservationist, and documentary filmmaker
• Philippe Cousteau – French diver and cinematographer
• Jonathan Dory – Human Systems Integration Lead at NASA's Johnson Space Center
• Sylvia Earle – American marine biologist, explorer, and author
• Sheck Exley – American cave and deep diving pioneer and record breaker
• Albert Falco – French scuba diver, chief diver and captain of the Calypso
• Christopher E. Gerty – American aerospace engineer who worked on NASA's Constellation Program
• Paul Hill (flight director) – Former Director of Mission Operations at the NASA Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center
• Mark Hulsbeck – American professional aquanaut. Oceanographic Operations Field Manager and research diver for the Aquarius Reef Base
• Emma Hwang – Scientist with Wyle Laboratories and aquanaut on NEEMO 5
• Les Kaufman – American evolutionary ecologist specializing in aquatic ecosystems
• Karen Kohanowich – American aquanaut and ex US Navy diver
• Dominic Landucci – American professional aquanaut and Network Analyst at the NOAA Aquarius Reef Base
• Jon Lindbergh – American aquanaut, commercial diver and pioneer cave diver
• Joseph B. MacInnis – Canadian physician, author, poet and aquanaut
• Craig McKinley (physician) – Canadian physician and aquanaut
• Simone Melchior – First woman scuba diver and aquanaut
• Dick Rutkowski – American pioneer in hyperbaric and diving medicine and use of mixed breathing gases for diving
• Tara Ruttley – Associate Program Scientist for the International Space Station at NASA's Johnson Space Center
• Josef Schmid (flight surgeon) – NASA flight surgeon and Major General in the United States Air Force Reserves
• Monika Schultz – American engineer
• Robert Sheats – American Master Diver retired from the United States Navy
• Dewey Smith – American aquanaut. Died in diving accident.
• Steve Squyres – Professor of Physical Sciences at Cornell University
• Robert Sténuit – Belgian journalist, writer, underwater archeologist and the first aquanaut.
• James Talacek – American professional aquanaut
• Joachim Wendler – German aquanaut who died in a diving accident

Other (to be allocated)

• John Chatterton – American wreck diver, co-host for History Channel's Deep Sea Detectives series
• Leigh Bishop – Diver known for shipwreck exploration and photography
• Jean-Michel Cousteau – French oceanographic explorer, environmentalist, educator, and film producer
• Billy Deans (diver) – American pioneering wreck and technical diver
• Oscar Gugen – A founder of the British Sub-Aqua Club
• Bob Halstead – Underwater photographer, author, journalist and commentator on the recreational diving industry.
• Keith Jessop – British salvage diver and treasure hunter
• Willard Franklyn Searle – US Navy ocean engineer and developer of diving and salvage equipment and systems
• Bill Nagle – American wreck diving pioneer

Gallery

See also

• Glossary of underwater diving terminology – Definitions of technical terms, jargon, diver slang and acronyms used in underwater diving
• Outline of underwater diving – Hierarchical outline list of articles related to underwater diving
• Index of underwater divers – Alphabetical listing of articles about underwater divers
• Index of underwater diving – Alphabetical listing of underwater diving related articles
• Index of recreational dive sites – Alphabetical listing of underwater diving related articles