Jacques Mayol

Jacques Mayol 1 April 1927 22 December 2001 was a French diver and the holder of many world records in free diving The 1988 film The Big Blue directed by Luc Besson was inspired by his life story and that of his friend Enzo Maiorca Mayol was one of the screenwriters and authored the book Homo Delphinus the Dolphin Within Man of his philosophy about the aquatic origins of humans Jacques Mayol was a French national born in Shanghai China Mayol spent his summer holidays in Karatsu Japan every year as a child When he was 7 he would skin dive with his older brother in seas around Nanatsugama ja???Karatsu Japan where he saw a dolphin for the first time Mayol described the fateful encounter in his book Homo Delphinus The Dolphin Within Man On 23 November 1976 at 49 he became the first free diver to descend to 100 metres 330 ft and when he was 56 he managed to descend to 105 metres 344 ft During the scientific research phase of his career Mayol tried to answer the question of whether man had a hidden aquatic potential that could be evoked by rigorous physiological and psychological training Mayols lifelong passion for diving was based on his love for the ocean his personal philosophy and his desire to explore his own limits During his lifetime he helped introduce the thenelitist sport of freediving into the mainstream His diving philosophy was to reach a state of mind based on relaxation and yoga breathing with which he could accomplish apnea He also contributed to technological advances in the field of freediving particularly improving assemblies used by nolimits divers He was also instrumental in the development of scuba divings octopus regulator which was invented by Dave Woodward at UNEXSO in 1965 or 1966 Woodward believed that having safety divers carry two second stages would be a safer and more practical approach than buddy breathing in the event of an emergency Mayol was already an experienced free diver when he met the Sicilian Enzo Maiorca who was the first person to dive below 50 metres 160 ft Mayol reached 60 metres 200 ft depth A friendship as well as rivalry between the two men ensued Their most famous records were set in the nolimits category in which divers are permitted to use weighted sleds to descend and air balloons for a speedy ascent Between 1966 and 1983 Mayol was the nolimits world champion eight times In 1981 he set a world record of 61 metres 200 ft in the constant weight discipline using fins In 1976 Mayol broke the 100 metres 330 ft barrier with a nolimits 101 metres 331 ft dive off Elba Italy Tests showed that during this dive his heart beat decreased from 60 to 27 beatsmin an aspect of the mammalian diving reflex a reflex more evident in whales seals and dolphins Mayols last deep dive followed in 1983 when he reached the depth of 105 metres 344 ft at the age of 56 Source Article Jacques Mayol from Wikipedia in English licensed under CCBYSA 30