Freediving to fame and fortune: The astonishing story of a legendary free officiel

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Setting himself up as an underwater diving guide in Sri Lanka in the early 1950s, his services were in high demand by wealthy celebrities, seeking new interests, especially spearfishing. Many invited him to their homes leading to a lifestyle and fame that he hardly imagined. Later both Hans Hass and Jacques Cousteau offered him employment. The diversity of his freediving experiences is fascinating. As the first person to dive in The Maldives, Thailand and Southern India, he became a diving legend. In 1965 officiel he set out to sail around the world on a Chinese junk filmed by award-winning underwater photographer Ben Kropp and diving on virgin Pacific reefs with famed explorer Jacques Dumas. Finally, he became a hugely successful commercial diver in Singapore. The different kinds of diving work he performed were astounding, including a joint venture with Exxon, resulting in a fortune he never anticipated. Buying a leading hotel in Pattaya, Thailand he set up the first significant PADI diving outfit in the country. Branching out into many other businesses, he led a flamboyant lifestyle, counting Kings, Presidents and well-known film stars among his friends. Amazingly, he hardly ever used SCUBA for his work, but diving almost entirely without it, achieved a lifestyle all but impossible today. Anyone interested in diving, especially free diving should read this book.