Before SCUBA, there were diving suits; divers got their air mostly from lines connecting them to the surface, much in the way some basic hookah systems still work today. Before those suits, there were diving bells, and before diving bells, there were, or course, free divers. Nobody really considered diving to be a sport; instead, diving was a dangerous but necessary job reserved for ship salvors and underwater repairmen who were the predecessors of today's commercial divers. The few self-contained systems that existed before rebreathers and other equipment that pre-dated today's gear were woefully inefficient, requiring large air reserves that didn't last long.
The First Rebreather: 1878
An Englishman named Henry Fleuss created the first rebreather more than 100 years ago. It consisted of a breathing bag and a copper cylinder that contained oxygen compressed to 440psi, plus a rubberized fabric hood and a carbon dioxide scrubber that was worn on the back. The diver could rebreathe the air he expired, with the oxygen supply re-charging the system periodically. At that time, no one knew that breathing pure oxygen below a depth of about 8 meters is toxic, but some time later, a diver experienced an oxygen hit complete with massive convulsions and nearly died. The system was later re-designed and the Frogmen of WWII actually used a similar system, and so did actors working on the 1915 version of 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.
Fins, Masks, and More: Diving in the 1930's
Many outstanding contributions to diving took place in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Fins were not used until 1930, but by 1935, they were available commercially. While divers wore various types of goggles in the early days, the modern diving mask evolves from a mask invented by a Russian named Alec Kramerenko during the 1930's. The first diving mask had wooden frames, a single glass plate, and a molded rubber skirt. It did not cover the nose, so equalization was not possible. Divers could only descend to about 6 meters before mask squeeze set in. Later, rubber bulbs used to add air to the masks were added, and finally a Frenchman named Maxime Forjot created a mask that enclosed the eyes and nose. In 1938, Forjot patented the snorkel.
The 1950's and Beyond
Later, inventions like the Aqualung, the demand regulator, and other equipment that made diving safer and easier were introduced, and by 1955, 25,000 Aqualung units were sold to recreational divers worldwide, with a stunning 80% of those sales having been made in the state of California. In August of 1959, the YMCA conducted the first-ever national diving instructor training program, and in 1960, the National Association of Underwater Instructors (NAUI) was formed. The Professional Association of Diving Instructors (PADI) was created in 1966, and the sport continued to grow annually.
Today, recreational SCUBA diving is a sport that is popular around the world, with divers heading to lakes, oceans, and rivers for fun and relaxation. In the United States alone, almost 400,000 people are certified each year, and the dive industry is worth billions. What would the first divers think of the equipment we have today, and how would they feel about the depths we are capable of attaining? We can only imagine, but one thing is certain: we owe those pioneers our thanks and our gratitude. Without their bravery, fortitude, and inventive spirit, we might very well find ourselves simply sitting on the world's beaches, wondering what might be out there below the water's surface.