History of Spearfishing and Scuba Diving in Australia: The First 80 Years 1917 to 1997

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Xlibris Corporation, Apr 8, 2014 - Sports & Recreation - 426 pages
Discover the pioneering days of spearfishing and scuba diving, read about the sports early spearmen and women and the founding fathers of scuba diving in Australia. This book takes you month by month from 1917 to 1997, through the good and bad times, the discoveries, the tragedies, the undersea explorations, as well as instructor organizations, diving achievers, and a number of important events which together comprise the history of underwater diving in Australia. Within the pages of this book is a large section dealing with the Chronicle of Sport Diving, events reported as though they had recently happened, recapturing all the important occurrences that took place during 80 years since Alex Wickham first speared fish in Sydney Harbour. Special features include newspaper reports of early spearfishing, the establishment of the first spearfishing association in 1948 and the appearance of the first home-made scuba regulator. There are thrilling and sometimes tragic stories of shark attacks. A woman skin diver was lost at sea for nearly three days and nights, and survived. There is the story of Australias first and so far only world champion spearfisherman and that of two scuba divers who swam with a white pointer shark for half an hour in open water, yet were not attacked by the beast, the devastating deaths of four scuba divers in a sinkhole at Mt. Gambier, the rapid advance of underwater technology in Australia and much more. This is the only book of its kind dealing with the history of spearfishing and scuba diving in this country. For some, it will bring back old memories, for others a readable and authoritative history of spearfishing and scuba diving in Australia. For every diver, man or woman, it cannot fail to stir emotions as it recaptures exciting and historical events. At the end of the Second World War, a Frenchman, Michel Calluaud brought plans of the Gagnan-Cousteau regulator to Australia and he built one of the first in the world here. Australians could then use this equipment for work and pleasure and it has furthered their knowledge of life in the sea. As we push beyond the boundary of seashores and venture further under water we begin to discover many things that were once beyond our grasp and it is the aqualung that has enabled us to journey beyond the confinements of land. THE HISTORY OF SPEARFISHING AND SCUBA DIVING IN AUSTRALIA not only deals with the scuba diving, but also, as the title suggests, with a wealth of information concerning spearfishing and related underwater activities.
 

Contents

A Journey Through Time
9
1950 to1959
33
1960 to 1969
67
1970 to 1979
96
1980 to 1989
144
1990 to 1999
197
2000 to 2007
290
1917 to 2007
368
Acknowledgments
425
Copyright

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About the author (2014)

Tom Byron is the author of eight books mostly dealing with snorkeling and scuba diving guides of Queensland and the Great Barrier Reef, Northern and Southern New South Wales and Jervis Bay, all running to several editions. The research for this book has taken him almost five years. He is also an award winning underwater photographer in Australia and overseas continually from 1958 to 1980. In 1993 he was awarded the SCUBA EXCELLENCE AWARD for the promotion of scuba diving, especially Australian dive sites and in 1994 was presented with a SSI Platinum PRO Divers 5000 card.

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