Fatal Record attempt in Garda Lake Italy

[fsardone]

Yesterday a Polish diver attempted to establish a diving record in Garda Lake (some sources report 300 mt while other 330). After the dive he did not surface.

Not many details available, from Italian sources appears to have attempted Open Circuit, no detail on the support organisation, configuration or gases. What they say is he left from the beach from a camp site. Name not yet available from public sources so I will not publish here. Only detail he was 38 YO, male.

I hope I am wrong but my assessment: doing what appears to be a solo shore dive, without support if this is what happened, aiming to reach -300 is just an elaborate way to lose your life.

Sub disperso nel lago di Garda: tentava il record di profondità

Tenta di battere un record di profondità: sub disperso nel lago di Garda - Il Giorno

Sub disperso nel Garda dopo aver tentato record di immersione NOTIZIA REGIONALE - Giornale di Como

 

[wgw04024]

Wow!

 

[tomfcrist]

It does however seem like people are doing dumb ass dives in that lake on a regular basis.

 

[fsardone]

Yes they do. A lot of legitimate training and deep dives happen there but there are people exceding limits or not knowing enough to know when and where to stop. Also going down is deceptively easy ... it is the coming back up that requires skills.

In the mean time initials have been pubblicly released: pk.
Sub disperso, era uscito con uno scooter subacqueo - Giornale di Brescia

 

[scubafanatic]

Sounds like he actually succeeded in setting his 'record'....deepest death!

 

[Jared0425]

It looks he pulled off a 1000ft dive before (if the picture above is correct), then he must have the competence to pull of another one.

At that depth, everything is pushed to the envelope. The question is, what part of the envelope was pushed too far?

 

[Jack Hammer]

These kinds of "record" attempts are pointless and stupid. They are nothing more than ego dives.

 

[tomfcrist]

It looks he pulled off a 1000ft dive before (if the picture above is correct), then he must have the competence to pull of another one.

At that depth, everything is pushed to the envelope. The question is, what part of the envelope was pushed too far?

The diver in the picture I think is another guy. There have been several 300m + dives by different divers at that location in the last few months.

What was pushed too far? Everything probably. Coming back from a dive like that isn’t skill...it’s luck.

 

[boulderjohn]

The diver in the picture I think is another guy. There have been several 300m + dives by different divers at that location in the last few months.

What was pushed too far? Everything probably. Coming back from a dive like that isn’t skill...it’s luck.

There is so little information out that it is hard to make any kind of conclusion. My immediate reaction mirror's Tom's, but I am still stymied by the lack of infomrnation.

If he was trying to set a record, what record was it?

What was his background?

What kind of logistics were involved. (You can't just swim down to that depth on backgas and swim back up.)

Who was his support team?

What gear did they have for that support?

We seriously knew much, much more about the absurd Dr. Deep fatal record attempt.

 

[Banan]

A lot of misinformation and rushed judgement in this thread so let me put some things straight.

The Diver's name was Adam Pawlik. He was an extremely experienced diver and had already had completed successful dives below 200m several times before this attempt.

He was diving a CCR.

He had support.

The exact location means he was descending along the slope from the beach. Reaching those depths in that place was made possible by using a CCR and in particular a scooter due to the sheer distance, but at the same time enabled divers to use the deeper part of Lake Garda.

While I'm sure it will be beneficial to the community to analyse the incident, I would refrain from rushing to judgements like 'nonsensical', 'ego-dive' etc., generally accusing the diver of recklessness.

The recent successful dives below 300m in that location by Krzysztof Starnawski (303m) and Jarek Macedonski (316m), while indeed record-breaking (deepest CCR, scooter and fresh water dives), were far from 'ego-dives'. They pushed the envelope on research and development of scooters handling extreme depths, among other data. It is worth noting that both those previous dives were uneventful and considering who did them (please tell me SB community that you know who K. Starnawski is), I would not contribute their success to 'luck' as some have implied).

Thanks.