Santorini, Greece — As reported on the AIDA website by the board President Kimmo Lahtinen, a freediver who was training for “No-Limits” is mysteriously missing. The original AIDA post states:
“On 7 June, a freediver training in Santorini, Greece did not return from a training dive. At the request of the diver’s family, the diver’s name is not yet being made public.
The diver was doing a 70m no-limits dive. He appears to have released his safety lanyard at depth, and then separated from the sled. The diver had been diving with a sled for several years, and had previously done dives below 80m. The sled surfaced without the diver: he had opened the tank and filled the lift bag before separating from it. The deeper of the two safety divers—at 35m—was unable to see the diver, in visibility of approximately 20m.
The counterbalance system was activated, but the diver was not attached to the line (the lanyard had been attached to the line above the sled). Safety divers performed numerous search and rescue dives, including one variable descent to approximately 75m, but were unable to locate the diver.
The local coast guard is currently conducting a search operation. If additional information becomes available it will be posted on this site, and the diver’s name will be released when upon authorization of the diver’s family.”
Stay tuned for updates on this potentially tragic story.