UKDIVING
Jason Malinson transports gear underwater in San Agustin , 2013
In the late 90s and early 2000s CDG divers began to demonstrate their potential to adapt equipment and techniques and take on the challenge of longer and deeper overseas caves . Many of the popular and classic sites in the Lot region of France saw exploration by CDG teams , including the now famous Emergence du Ressel , where
Jason Mallinson in Sump 2 of Pozo Azul , 2010
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Rick Stanton and Jason Mallinson teamed up to discover and pass Sump Two before finally pushing 1,300m into Sump 5 , some 5km from the entrance . The resurgence at St Sauveur was extended by Stanton for 720 metres to reach a depth of 133m in 2005 ( and later to 190m in 2007 ). Partnered with John Volanthen , he also enjoyed success in Italy at
PHOTO : MARTYN FARR the Cogol de Veci in 2005 . Here , after passing the 2.3km long first sump , they became the first to explore the 1km-long second sump .
Back in the UK the dives were also getting deeper and more technical . In 2003 Martin Groves established Main Rising in Peak Cavern ( Derbyshire ) as the deepest underwater cave in Britain . The record didn ’ t last long however and in 2004 John Volanthen and Stanton reached 76m in Wookey Hole . The pair continued exploring here and finally reach 90m depth where it remains the current deepest cave dive in Britain . The dives made use of specially manufactured side-mount closed circuit rebreathers and involved clearing submerged boulder chokes at significant depth .
Building on these international successes , CDG divers were developing the ability to cover extremely long distances underwater , and in 2010 Volanthen , Stanton and Mallinson teamed up with Dutch diver René Houben to set a world record for the longest cave penetration dive , reaching 8,800 m ( 28,900 ft ) in the Pozo Azul cave system . Further extensions between 2011-2015 by the team