Jackie Wu Ming-chuen is back in the news after he made a 101 metre dive in Puerto Galera. Back in November he reached 72 metres, but now he’s gone deeper. He is chairman of the Hong Kong Underwater Archaelogical Association.
According to the Hong Kong Standard’s article, he is “one of the few Hong Kong divers advocating the use of tri-mix“. That in itself seems a bit odd since several SCDC members are trimix qualified, and Mandarin Divers have been teaching trimix courses for years and I’m sure they’re not the only ones.
I’m also not quite sure what record he has set, since Hong Kong resident and Cathay pilot, Dave Shaw’s 270 metre dive into Boesmansgat (Bushman’s Cave) in South Africa was obviously deeper. Sadly Dave Shaw died on January 2005 attempting to recover the body of Deon Dreyer from the same cave. That is the subject of an excellent recent book by Peter Finch – Raising the Dead: A True Story of Death and Survival
Anyway, criticism aside, a 100 metre dive is not something to be undertaken lightly, so it’s good to hear that Mr. Wu made it safely. And I suppose additional positive publicity for diving in Hong Kong is no bad thing.
