World Record-Holding British Cave Diver Who Played A Key Role In The 2018 Tham Luang Thailand Cave Rescue
\nJohn Volanthen is a world record-holding British caver and cave diver who has been involved in cave exploration over
\nthe last two decades. John began caving with the scouts at the age of 14 and has been at the forefront of cave
\nexploration since combining caving and diving. In 2018, John played a key role in the Tham Luang Thailand cave rescue
\nand was named one of TIME magazine\u2019s \u201cHeroes of the Year.\u201d<\/p>\n
John has been involved in exploring and mapping caves throughout the world, including the UK, Europe, and Malaysia,
\noften with dive partner Richard (Rick) Stanton. John attended the Tham Luang incident in Thailand, along with his cave
\ndive partner, Rick Stanton. The duo were able to successfully locate the missing children\u2014something not even special
\nforces were able to do\u2014and then participated in their extraction and successful rescue, leading the team two-and-a-half
\nmiles through a flooded dungeon of a cave buried deep inside a mountain. A video of Volanthen and Stanton making
\ninitial contact with the team has since gone viral globally.<\/p>\n
In 2004, Volanthen and Stanton set a world record for greatest depth achieved in a British cave, cave diving 76 m (249
\nft) at Wookey Hole in Somerset. Additionally, in 2010, John Volanthen, Rick Stanton, Jason Mallinson, and Ren\u00e9
\nHouben set a world record for longest cave penetration dive, obtaining 8,800 m (28,900 ft) in the Pozo Azul cave
\nsystem in the Rudr\u00f3n Valley in Spain, involving a multi-day operation, camping beyond 6 km of sumps.
\nJohn has built and modified rebreather systems for 15 years, adapting units commercially available, and building other
\nunits to meet the unique requirements of individual caves. John also built a sump mapping device to survey long and
\ndeep sumps where traditional compass and note pad techniques are not feasible.<\/p>\n
John has been involved in a number of search, rescue, and recovery incidents including the recovery of Paul Esser, the
\nGliesion Colliary flooding, and the search for Eric Estable in the Ardeche for which John was awarded the Royal
\nHumane Society Bronze medal.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":3500,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"class_list":["post-3499","speakers","type-speakers","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n