Jim Bowden is an American

technical diver Technical diving (also referred to as tec diving or tech diving) is scuba diving that exceeds the agency-specified limits of recreational diving for non-professional purposes. Technical diving may expose the diver to hazards beyond those normally ...

, known as a

cave diver Cave-diving is underwater diving in water-filled caves. It may be done as an extreme sport, a way of exploring flooded caves for scientific investigation, or for the search for and recovery of divers or, as in the 2018 Thai cave rescue, other ...

and as a

deep diver ''Deep Diver'' was the name of a deep-sea scientific research submersible designed by Edwin Albert Link. ''Deep Diver'' was the first small submersible designed for lockout diving, allowing divers to leave and enter the craft while underwater. I ...

. In 1994 he set a world record, since broken, by diving to . He is one of only thirty-five people who have dived below a depth of on

self-contained breathing apparatus A self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA) is a respirator worn to provide an autonomous supply of breathable gas in an atmosphere that is immediately dangerous to life or health from a gas cylinder. They are typically used in firefighting a ...

. He has also made six dives under . He was attempting a dual descent with

Sheck Exley Sheck Exley (April 1, 1949 – April 6, 1994) was an American cave diver. He is widely regarded as one of the pioneers of cave diving, and he wrote two major books on the subject: '' Basic Cave Diving: A Blueprint for Survival'' and ''Caverns M ...

in the dive which resulted in Exley's death. Bowden had aborted his dive and ascended prior to the events which led to Exley's demise. Bowden's record-breaking dive served as the inspiration (with Bowden's permission) for the opening chapter of Tom Morrisey's 2002 novel, ''Yucatan Deep''.

References

External links

Profile of Jim Bowden by ''Advanced Diver'' magazine
Year of birth missing (living people) Living people American underwater divers Cave diving explorers Place of birth missing (living people) Sportspeople from Austin, Texas Pioneering technical divers {{caving-stub