Woman dead, husband injured on 230 meter dive - Greece

[DandyDon]

The article is not really clear? Did both go to that depth, or was she a support diver who didn't?

Woman Dies in Northern Greece After Deep Dive

THESSALONIKI, Greece — Authorities in Greece say that a Bulgarian woman has been killed and her husband hospitalized after diving to a great depth off Greece's northern coast.

Greece's coast guard reported her death Sunday, and said her husband was transferred by helicopter to a hospital in Thessaloniki which has a unit to treat divers' decompression sickness.

A staff doctor told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity that the 47-year-old man who survived said that he felt sick at a depth of about 230 meters (750 feet).

His 45-year-old wife, who was with him, became unresponsive and was pulled to the surface from 60 meters (200 feet) down. Despite efforts to revive her, she was pronounced dead. The man took about three hours to come to the surface, following decompression protocol.

 

[hargikas]

More info in Greek media.

If the articles are right, the both felt sick at depth (230 meters???) and the woman become disoriented and didn't follow the planned accent profile and her husband managed to make a 3 hour accent with the help of safety divers before he was air-lifted to the Hyperbaric Chamber in Thessaloniki.


This article, suggest they were trying to break the depth record for group diving. Is there such a thing?

Also in this article, her husband said that currents made him lost contact with his wife at depth!

 

[leadduck]

Didn't Comex divers go to 534m for commercial saturation dives already in 1988? I don't see what these private OC bounce divers want to prove at 200-330m if we know already that humans can go much deeper and it's all just a matter of cost and logistics. Freediving records are more interesting to me.

 

[hargikas]

Didn't Comex divers go to 534m for commercial saturation dives already in 1988? I don't see what these private OC bounce divers want to prove at 200-330m if we know already that humans can go much deeper and it's all just a matter of cost and logistics. Freediving records are more interesting to me.

Exactly my view. I don't understand why we keep seeing attempts to break depth world records in scuba diving (and in many categories???). The science hasn't changed that much in the later years, the same limitations scientists have found and managed to create the protocols for saturated diving still exist today.

The only thing it has changed in how commercial available are breathers and the popularity of technical diving. Both of those things though it doesn't make diving deeper safer or viable on doing bounce dives.

I will post again this great article: A Fatal Attempt: Psychological Factors in the Failed World Depth Record Attempt 2015

 

[DandyDon]

More info in Greek media.

Ok, that does offer more info. The google translation says she wanted to break the world record, and I see that the record for a woman diver is 221 meters. Excerpting from Top 5 Record Breaking Dives - Commercial Diver Lifestyle - CDA Technical Institute

When it comes to scuba diving records for women, South African native, Verna Van Schaik holds the current deepest dive record.

Verna used scuba gear to go 221 meters deep (725 ft) in the Boesmansgat cave in South Africa. It took her 12 minutes to get to the bottom and 5 hours and 15 minutes to get back topside.

Google translation of the article you found...

In her attempt to break down the world record of diving, the 45-year-old woman from Bulgaria on Sunday in Halkidiki found tragic death . The 45-year-old, along with her 47-year-old husband, dives together in a Toroneos Bay area to break the world record at 230 meters. But when they were too deep, something went wrong and the scumbag (?) felt sick. Probably, according to the Athenian Agency, the director of EKAB Thessaloniki, Chrissi Matsikoudi, the 45-year-old woman, still unknown for what reason, was disoriented.

Then, reportedly, the unfortunate woman tried to climb the surface, but not with the proper procedure, and that cost her life. That is, it did not follow the predicted decompression process, which means gradual rise to the surface of the sea rather than rapid.

Indicative is that even a 47-year-old man felt unwell in the sea, but according to the director of EKAB Thessaloniki, members of the diving group watching them, they gradually raised him up for decompression. "The whole process lasted for about 3 hours and as soon as it came to the surface, it was transported by boat to Porto Carras, where it was taken over by a Fire Brigade helicopter and taken to the hyperbaric chamber of Ayios Pavlos Hospital in Thessaloniki," said the director of EKAB .

the 47chronos hospital hyperbaric chamber in the hospital "Saint Paul" in Thessaloniki, with symptoms of diving disease.

According to halkidikinews.gr, it is the diver Theodora Balabanova, who along with her husband have a diving center in Nikiti and were instructors of scuba diving.

The man said that because of the currents he lost his wife from his eyes.

 

[hargikas]

A day in pictures

Michail Balabanov and his wife Teodora will try to beat the Guness record for deepest diving on September 15 and 20 in the Toroneos bay between Kassandra and Sithonia in the Greek peninsula of Halkidiki. Teodora Balabanova will attempt reaching 231 meters in open sea on September 20. The diving is expected to continue 5 and a half hours. For the purpose the divers will be using 30 bottles of different gas combinations. In her attempt Teodora will be accompanied by her husband Michail. If the diving is successful this would be a second world record for both of them as a couple. The attempt has a referent number and registration for the Guinness World Records.

I though Guinness had stopped recording Ultra-deep bounce dives.

 

[dmaziuk]

I don't think there is any happiness involved here, and I have to wonder why you would post such a statement?

Do you think they didn't know at least one of them most likely wasn't coming back? I wouldn't put it past them, its' only a google away but you can only lead a horse to google...

 

[iamrushman]

sorry to hear such sad news...

 

[Dan]

RIP Teodora & condolences to her family & friends. Best wishes & speedy recovery for Michail. Verna Van Schaik did it in more control environment of Boesmangot Cave, where David Shaw had failed attempt to recover a 10-years old diver remains of Deon Dreyer, at 270m. These couple tried to break the record in open sea. Regardless, it doesn't make sense to break world record of anything in my book of life.

 

[DandyDon]

Regardless, it doesn't make sense to break world record of anything in my book of life.

I can see the prestige for a professional diver if everyone survives uninjured, and it would have been good for their business. I'm sure we'll keep seeing attempts.