Outline of underwater divers

This is a list of underwater divers whose exploits have made them notable.^[a] 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

Pioneers of diving

Victor Berge – Swedish diving pioneer and author (1891–1974)
Alberto Gianni – Italian underwater diver and inventor (1891–1930)
James F. Cahill – American scuba diving pioneer (1926–2008)^[1]
Alphonse and Théodore Carmagnolle – Inventors of an early atmospheric diving suit
Charles Condert – American inventor of a failed underwater breathing apparatus
Jacques Cousteau – French naval officer, oceanographer, filmmaker and author (1910-1997)
Charles Anthony Deane – Pioneering diving engineer and inventor of a surface supplied diving helmet
Guglielmo de Lorena – Underwater archaeologist who invented a diving bell
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–)
Bret Gilliam – Pioneering technical diver and author (1951–2023)
Edmond Halley – English astronomer (1656–1742)
Hans Hass – Austrian biologist, film-maker, and underwater diving pioneer (1919–2013)
Stig Insulán – Inventor of an adjustable automatic exhaust valve for variable volume dry suits
Jim Jarret – Test diver of the first successful atmospheric diving suit
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
Joe Savoie – Diver and inventor of diving helmets
Augustus Siebe – 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–)′
Robert Sténuit – Belgian journalist, writer, underwater archeologist and the first aquanaut.
Philippe Tailliez – French pioneer of scuba diving and underwater photographer (1905–2002)
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

Craig Challen – Australian veterinary surgeon and technical diver
Sheck Exley – American cave and deep diving pioneer and record breaker
Martyn Farr – British cave diver
Richard Harris – Irish actor and singer (1930–2002)
Jill Heinerth – Canadian diver, writer and underwater filmmaker
William Hogarth Main – Cave diver and scuba configuration experimentalist
Agnes Milowka – Australian cave diver
Rick Stanton – British cave diver who specialises in rescues
Bill Stone – American engineer, caver and explorer
Krzysztof Starnawski – Polish technical and cave diver
John Volanthen – British volunteer cave diver who specialises in rescues

Underwater scientists, environmentalists and archaeologists

Sylvia Earle prepares to dive in a JIM suit

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

Deborah Andollo – Cuban free diver and diving instructor
Peppo Biscarini – Italian and American swimmer, freediver, and actor
Sara Campbell – British free diver and former world record holder
Derya Can – Turkish world record holder female free-diver
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
Flavia Eberhard – Brazilian free-diver and presenter of TV series "APNEIA"
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
Enzo Maiorca – Italian free diver
Jacques Mayol – French free diver (1927–2001)
Audrey Mestre – French world record-setting freediver
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
Ocean Ramsey – American freediver and model (born 1987)
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
Alessia Zecchini – Italian freediver (born 1992)

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

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 (1910-1997)
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
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 – Filipina cinematographer
Georges Beuchat – French inventor, diver and businessman
Adrian Biddle – English cinematographer (1952–2005)
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 (1910-1997)
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^[Wikidata] – 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 scuba diver, photographer and actress (born 1933)
Pierre Petit – French photographer (1831–1909)
Leni Riefenstahl – German filmmaker (1902–2003)
Peter Scoones – Underwater cameraman
Brian Skerry – American film producer and 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

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

Combat divers, frogmen and saboteurs

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

Sylvia Earle displays samples to aquanaut inside TEKTITE

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

Astronauts – Commander, pilot, or crew member of a spacecraft
- 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
- Serena Auñón-Chancellor – American physician, engineer, and NASA astronaut
- Michael Barratt (astronaut) – American aerospace medicine physician and astronaut born 1959
- Bob Behnken – US Air Force officer, NASA astronaut and former Chief of the Astronaut Office (born 1970)
- Randolph Bresnik – United States Marine Corps officer and a NASA astronaut on three expeditions
- Scott Carpenter – American astronaut and aquanaut (1925–2013)
- Gregory Chamitoff – Canadian born engineer and NASA astronaut (born 1962)
- Catherine Coleman – American astronaut, chemist, engineer and USAF colonel (born 1960)
- Timothy Creamer – NASA flight director, astronaut and US Army officer
- Jeanette Epps – American aerospace engineer and NASA astronaut born 1970
- Andrew J. Feustel – American-Canadian NASA astronaut and geophysicist
- Michael Fincke – American astronaut and USAF colonel (born 1967)
- Satoshi Furukawa – Japanese surgeon and astronaut (born 1964)
- Ronald J. Garan Jr. – American astronaut
- Michael L. Gernhardt – NASA astronaut and manager of Environmental Physiology Laboratory (born 1956)
- Chris Hadfield – Canadian astronaut (born 1959)
- Jeremy Hansen – Canadian astronaut and future lunar explorer (born 1976)
- José M. Hernández – American engineer and former NASA astronaut
- John Herrington – Native American astronaut, aviator and engineer (born 1958)
- Akihiko Hoshide – Japanese astronaut and engineer (born 1968)
- Norishige Kanai – Japanese doctor and astronaut (born 1976)
- Scott Kelly (astronaut) – American engineer and astronaut (born 1964)
- Timothy Kopra – American astronaut
- Michael López-Alegría – Spanish-American astronaut (born 1958)
- Sandra Magnus – American astronaut and engineer (born 1964)
- Thomas Marshburn – American physician and NASA astronaut
- K. Megan McArthur – American oceanographer and NASA astronaut (born 1971)
- Jessica Meir – American astronaut and marine biologist
- Dorothy Metcalf-Lindenburger – American astronaut
- Andreas Mogensen – Danish engineer and astronaut (born 1976)
- Soichi Noguchi – Japanese astronaut and engineer (born 1965)
- Karen Nyberg – American mechanical engineer and NASA astronaut
- John D. Olivas – American engineer and a former NASA astronaut
- Takuya Onishi – Japanese astronaut, engineer and pilot (born 1975)
- Luca Parmitano – Italian astronaut, pilot and engineer (born 1976)
- Nicholas Patrick – British-American astronaut and engineer (born 1964)
- Tim Peake – British Army Air Corps officer and astronaut (born 1972)
- Thomas Pesquet – French aerospace engineer, pilot, and astronaut (born 1978)
- Marc Reagan – American Station Training Lead in Mission Operations at NASA's Johnson Space Center
- Garrett Reisman – American engineer and former NASA astronaut (born 1968)
- Kathleen Rubins – American microbiologist and NASA astronaut
- David Saint-Jacques – Canadian astronaut (born 1970)
- Heidemarie Stefanyshyn-Piper – American astronaut and Navy captain (born 1963)
- Hervé Stevenin – European aquanaut at the European Astronaut Centre (born 1962)
- Nicole Stott – American engineer and former astronaut (born 1962)
- Daniel M. Tani – American astronaut and engineer (born 1961)
- Robert Thirsk – Canadian engineer, astronaut and physician (born 1953)
- 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 astronaut (born 1963)
- Rex J. Walheim – American astronaut, engineer and USAF colonel (born 1962)
- Shannon Walker – American scientist and NASA astronaut
- Douglas H. Wheelock – American engineer and astronaut (born 1960)
- Peggy Whitson – American astronaut and biochemistry researcher (born 1960)
- Dafydd Williams – Canadian astronaut, physician and public speaker (born 1954)
- Jeffrey Williams (astronaut) – American astronaut and US Army officer (born 1958)
- Sunita Williams – American astronaut and Navy officer (born 1965)
- Gregory R. Wiseman – American astronaut, engineer, and naval aviator (born 1975)
- Kimiya Yui – Japanese pilot and astronaut (born 1970)
Andrew Abercromby – Biomedical engineer from Scotland working for NASA
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 (1935–1969)
Justin Brown (aquanaut) – American professional aquanaut and habitat technician
Steve Chappell – American aerospace engineer
Robin Cook (American novelist) – American physician and novelist (born 1940)
Craig B. Cooper – American aquanaut
Fabien Cousteau – Aquanaut, ocean conservationist, and documentary filmmaker
Philippe Cousteau – French diver and cinematographer (1940–1979)
Jonathan Dory – Human Systems Integration Lead at NASA's Johnson Space Center
Sylvia Earle – American marine biologist and lecturer
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
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 underwater diver (1932–2021)
Joseph B. MacInnis – Canadian physician, author, poet and aquanaut
Craig McKinley (physician) – Canadian physician and aquanaut
Simone Melchior – First woman scuba diver and aquanaut (1919–1990)
Dick Rutkowski – American pioneer in hyperbaric and diving medicine and use of mixed breathing gases for diving
Tara Ruttley – Associate Chief Scientist for Microgravity Research at NASA Headquarters
Josef Schmid (flight surgeon) – NASA flight surgeon and Major General in the United States Air Force Reserves
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 (1939–1975)

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–)
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)

Footnotes

^ Notability to qualify for this list is established by having, as a minimum requirement, cited mention in an article on English Wikipedia, in which their notability as a diver is explained.

References

^ 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.

[1] Notability to qualify for this list is established by having, as a minimum requirement, cited mention in an article on English Wikipedia, in which their notability as a diver is explained.

[Hanauer1994-2] 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.

[a]

[1]