Bret Gilliam: The multi-faceted scuba pioneer dies aged 72

American technical diver Bret Gilliam, who lived from February 3, 1951, until October 8, 2023, was a pioneer. He was most well-known for co-founding Technical Diving International with Mitch Skaggs and for holding the world record for deep diving on air for a brief period of time.

He is also a well-known author in the diving community. Over 1500 feature magazine articles, 72 books, over 100 magazine covers, and Gilliam are all authors or coauthors. Since 1959, he has accumulated more than 19,000 dives in his diving career.

In 1971, Gilliam founded the consulting firm Ocean Tech, which offered expert witness testimony in instances involving scuba diving and maritime matters. He has appeared in over 400 court cases since 1973, almost exactly equally split between plaintiff and defense litigation.

Bret Gilliam: The multi-faceted scuba pioneer dies aged 72

Bret Gilliam, a US diver who is regarded as one of the most important scuba diving pioneers and one of the most prosperous businessmen in the field, passed away in Maine at the age of 72 after suffering from a number of ailments.

Success in diving for Gilliam encompassed the most of the sport’s facets. He held the world record for the deepest scuba diver on air at one time, diving to a depth of 138 meters at Roatan in 1990 and later raising this record to 145 meters. He was physiologically undisturbed by deep diving without the use of mixed gases.