Eduardo Admetlla

[MARK74]

In 1948 he started diving. At first as an underwater fisherman, he became a member of the Barcelona Spearfishing Association (APS), an activity that he abandoned when he considered that he could not enter the seabed armed with a rifle.[1][3] He was a founding member of the Center for Recovery and Underwater Research (CRIS)[2] and dedicated himself to photography and filming the seabed. Thereafter, he designed waterproof equipment for cameras and worked as a material tester for the firm Nimrod. In 1953 he built and successfully tested an experimental prototype of a scuba.[4] On September 30, 1957, from the Cartagena Arsenal, he descended with compressed air bottles to a depth of 100 m, setting the world depth record for diving with compressed air.[5] He wrote five books explaining his underwater experiences: The Call of the Deep,[6] My Fish Friends,[7] Bottom!,[8] Lands and Depths[9] and My Underwater Adventure.[10] Following the works of Hans Hass and Jacques-Yves Cousteau, he was a Spanish pioneer in underwater photography and filming.[1] The first documentary series he directed was titled Rumbo sur, filmed in black and white. After this experience he became a professional, he founded the production company Volitans Films, S.L. and filmed the series: The call of the depths shot in Seychelles; Our islands, filmed in the Balearic and Canary Islands, and Lands and depths in the Caribbean. All of them were broadcast by Spanish Television. For TV3, he recorded the documentary series La naturaleza en profundidad [La natura en profunditat]. He passed away in his hometown at the age of 95. The General Secretariat for Sport and Physical Activity of Catalonia regretted the loss of a prominent scientific and sports disseminator.[11]

 

[MARK74]

Hello colleagues, I wanted you to know the story of Eduardo Admetlla, the pioneer of autonomous diving in Spain and the first man in the world to descend to 100m with compressed air.
Surely Luis has heard of him, I was lucky to meet him many years ago and it was a pleasure to hear him speak.

 

[MARK74]

 

[JMBL]

Thank you @MARK74. Never heard of the gentleman, though. Might be possible I've seen some his works on TV, as scuba diving was all the rage on French TV in the 70's and 80's. Alas, like many diving pioneers, I fear his books and movies/TV shows are all but forgotten, except by scuba freaks like us. Do you know if his books were ever translated in French or English ? I might try to find them in yard sales or 2nd hand bookshops.

 

[Luis H]

Hello colleagues, I wanted you to know the story of Eduardo Admetlla, the pioneer of autonomous diving in Spain and the first man in the world to descend to 100m with compressed air.
Surely Luis has heard of him, I was lucky to meet him many years ago and it was a pleasure to hear him speak.

Thanks for sharing.

I am afraid to say that I have never heard of him or if I did, it was so long ago, I don't remember.

I found some of his books for sale, used, coming from Spain. I may need to get one just to add to my collection, but I not sure I can read a book in Spanish anymore without getting distracted.

Eduard Admetlla i Lázaro - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

I may want to look at getting a copy of his videos. My wife and a friend of mine are trying to learn Spanish. It could be interesting for them to watch something like this.

Eduard Admetlla i Lázaro | Director, Cinematographer, Writer

Known for: Tierras y profundidades, La llamada de las profundidades, Nuestras Islas

www.imdb.com

Here is a video.
I just finished watching this video and it was a great inspiration. The video was from 2013. He was diving at around 89 years old. Ok, now I just hope I can get there…

Al filo de lo imposible - Eduard Admetlla

Emisión del programa Al filo de lo imposible titulado Eduard Admetlla. Todos los contenidos de TVE los tienes aquí, en RTVE Play

www.rtve.es

Thanks

 

[MARK74]

Thank you both very much for your comments. Since I was 5 years old I dreamed of diving to see the wonders that appeared on television in programs by Cousteau and Admetlla, thanks to these pioneers I became a saturation diver.
My life is diving and I will always try to honor these men so they don't fall into oblivion.
Luis, you urgently need a vacation in Spain, to drink cider and eat cachopo, a hug and thank you both.

 

[MARK74]

Luis, when you come here this issue is for you.
Without the Titanic that took me 2 years to finish.

 

[happy-diver]

What a great dude you're a compatriota dude!

 

[MARK74]

You are also invited happy diver, I like to have friends all over the world.

Greetings