Best Ever Diver....who do you think?

[raviepoo]

You might be able to look at statistics and come up with a candidate for "best hitter in the history of baseball." You might be able to name the best runningback in (American) football based purely on stats. You MIGHT be able to name the best no limits free diver (until the next record is broken.)

How in the world can you possibly declare anyone "best" in a sport in which there are no criteria for competiion? It's a ridiculous concept.

Asking "Who is the best diver?" is like asking "Who is the best lovemaker?" There's no objective criteria to use to judge the "winner." What kind of diving/lovemaking inerests you? Do you want to go deep? Do you want to penetrate further than any other diver? Do you want to take it easy and stretch out the time as long as you can? Are you looking for an adrenaline rush? Are you just trying to pump up the number of dives in your logbook? Are you on a mission to quantify as much of the underwater realm as possible? Do you simply enjoy that wieghtless, floaty feeling?

In diving, as in sex, "best" is what is best for the individual.

Can't we all just enjoy whatever aspect of scuba originally drew us into the sport? Why does anyone have to turn it into a competition? Maybe it's a testosterone thing that I just don't understand.

If I HAVE TO vote for a "best" diver my vote would go to my cousin John's dive buddy, who is confined to wheelchair on land but swims like a fish through the water.

 

[O-ring]

Asking "Who is the best diver?" is like asking "Who is the best lovemaker?" There's no objective criteria to use to judge the "winner." What kind of diving/lovemaking inerests you? Do you want to go deep? Do you want to penetrate further than any other diver? Do you want to take it easy and stretch out the time as long as you can? Are you just trying to pump up the number of dives in your logbook? Are you on a mission to quantify as much of the underwater realm as possible? Do you simply enjoy that wieghtless, floaty feeling?

I love your perspective on this...thanks for the laugh.

 

[kingprawn]

raviepoo, Exactly!

Braunbehrens, yes I've seen a few that were not so good, but I have also see dive guides that were great!!!

If you didn't see bubbles, you would swear they were fish. Buoyancy control to the inch and, no unnecessary movements at all. I wondered how they can move since you don't often see them finning. (BTW in the DIRF videos you can see the feet constantly sculling. Does that qualify as unnecessary movements?).

You want to talk practice. How about diving 4-5 times a day 6-7 days a week.

I don’t mean to detract from the accomplishments of others. Clearly all of the divers mentioned have great accomplishments to their credit, and deserve their accolades. I am just pointing out that there are many unsung heros that have probably logged more dive than most of our legends.

So... What determines “best”?

If you want to talk about who has done the most for the sport, I will agree on Cousteau. While I don’t think he “invented the bar” he certainly did a great deal to make SCUBA available to the public.

 

[MikeFerrara]

kingprawn once bubbled...
As far as SCUBA is concerned, it is probably one of the many travel dive guides that jump in the water 6-7 days a week to keep us from hurting ourselves, so that we can sit back in our chairs and ask each other questions like this.

I couldn't speculate on that since I haven't ever dived with a guid. If I did, I sure wouldn't rely on them to keep me from hurting myself. LOL

 

[Braunbehrens]

kingprawn once bubbled...
(BTW in the DIRF videos you can see the feet constantly sculling. Does that qualify as unnecessary movements?).

THey're trying to teach you to frog kick?

 

[Doppler]

"best" is pretty subjective but my vote is in for Hans Hass... I got the diving bug thanks to him and his early black and white movie photography.... a 16mm arriflex underwater!!! wow, what a concept.