| History
The history of the Polish cave diving goes back to the 1950s, when the pioneering exploratory actions were undertaken with the use of the contemporary, not very advanced equipment. The first diving action in the Polish caves took place on the 3rd February 1953 in Jaskinia Zimna (Cold Cave). The amateur equipment used during the diving was designed and made by Włodzimierz Starzecki. It was przewodowy equipment: a stiff helmet worn by the diver was connected to the surface by means of a pipe, into which the suppressed air was pumped. The first diving with the use of scuba equipment took place in the same Jaskinia Zimna (Cold Cave). On January 2nd 1958, two divers from Cracow, Ogaza and Maczek, undertook an exploratory action in that cave, an action that almost ended up in tragedy. As a result of a mechanical damage to the air bottle and the consequent lack of the breathing factor, the diver Ogaza was cut off behind the sump for 46 hours waiting for help to come. To commemorate this event, the sump was given his name and is now called Syfon Ogazy (Ogaza`s Sump). Another unfortunate accident, this time a tragic one, was a diving attempt in the same Jaskinia Zimna (Cold Cave) in the year 1966. During this action the diver Roman Lebecki was killed, thus marking the first death in the history of Polish cave diving. The first cave divings involved great risks, mainly due to the imperfect scuba diving equipment used in those days- the divers used very unreliable single apparatus with double hose regulator. Today, cave divers use equipment which is set up altogether differently and also they apply different techniques. After the first, pioneer divings by the Polish divers in the years 1953 and 1956-59, it was only the mid-1960s that saw a renewed activity in the Polish speleological circles. This `cave boom` lasted until the year 1974. Some really demanding actions were undertaken in the Tatra caves, of which many had an exploratory character. In 1969, first divings in the sump on the bottom of Jaskinia Wielka Śnieżna (Great Snow Cave), the deepest Tatra cave, were made. Wielka Śniezna was at the time considered the most difficult of all the Polish caves. The diver managed to get through the last sump, situated 567 m (app. 1890 ft) below the lower opening of the cave (counting from the top opening, this distance would be some 200 m- app. 667 ft- bigger). Unfortunately, from the mid-1970s to the early 1990s speleo-diving activities were not many: the earlier impact was somehow lost. It was only in the early 1990 that the good times of the Polish cave diving returned, but this time they have returned for good. Every year difficult cave diving actions are undertaken both at home and abroad. We have made fruitful contacts with foregin divers that allowed gave us a chance for an exchange of experience and information. It is thanks to the colleagues from the French Speleological Federation that we greatly enriched our knowledge (mainly about the new equipment for cave diving) and improved our skills (practical knowledge of useful diving techniques, such as guide line fixing, self-rescue techniques, leaving the bottle deposits).
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