Jacques Mayol

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Jacques Mayol (April 1, 1927 – December 22, 2001) was the holder of many world records in free diving.

Jacques Mayol was a French national born in Shanghai, China. He was the first free diver to descend to 100 meters (330 feet) (November 23, 1976), and he managed to descend to 105 meters when he was 56 years old. During the scientific research phase of his career, he tried to answer the question of whether or not man had a hidden aquatic potential that could be evoked by rigorous physiological and psychological training.

The film The Big Blue, directed by Luc Besson in 1988, was inspired by his life story (and the life story of the Italian diver Enzo Maiorca); Mayol was one of the screenwriters.

On December 22, 2001, Mayol committed suicide by hanging himself in Elba, Italy, at the age of 74. His ashes were spread over the Tuscany coast.


Free diving - Jacques Mayol’s lifelong passion for diving was based on his love for the ocean, his personal philosophy and his desire to explore his own limits. During his lifetime, he helped introduce the until then elitist sport of free-diving into the main stream. His diving philosophy was to reach a state of mind based on relaxation and Yoga, with which he could accomplish Apnea [1]. He also contributed to technological advances in the field of free-diving, particularly improving assemblies used by no-limits divers. Mayol was already an experienced free diver when he met the Sicilian Enzo Maiorca who was the first to dive below 50m. Mayol reached 60m depth. [2]. A friendship, as well as rivalry between the two men ensued. Their most famous records were set in the no-limits category, in which the divers are permitted to use weighted sleds to descend and air balloons for a speedy ascent. Between 1966 and 1983, Mayol was eight times no-limits world champion. In 1981 he set a world record of 61m in the constant weight discipline, using fins. In 1976 Mayol broke the 100m barrier with a no-limits 101m dive off Elba, Italy [3]. Tests showed that during this dive his heart beat decreased from 60 to 27 beats/min, a mammalian reflex found in seals and dolphins. Mayol’s last deep dive followed in 1983 when he reached the depth of 105m, at the age of 56. [4]

Dolphins – Mayol’s fascination with dolphins started in 1955 when he was working as a commercial diver at an aquarium in Miami, Florida [5]. There he met a female dolphin called Clown and formed a close bond with her. Imitating Clown, he learned how to hold his breath longer and how to behave and integrate himself underwater. It is the dolphins that became the foundation of Mayol’s life philosophy of Homo Delphinus. [6]

L’Homo Delphinus [7] (1983, published in English as Homo Delphinus – The dophin within man) – Throughout his book Mayol expounds his theories about man’s relationship with the sea: Does man really have an aquatic origin? How can man re-awaken his dormant mental and spiritual faculties and the physiological mechanisms from the depths of his psyche and genetic make-up to develop the potential of his aquatic origins, to become a Homo Delphinus? Jacques Mayol predicted that, within a couple of generations, some people will be able to dive to 200m and hold their breath for up to ten minutes. Today the no-limits record stands at 214m (Herbert Nitsch, June 2007). [8] As a visionary Mayol develops the validity of the concept of underwater birth. As an explorer he takes the reader to the furthest parts of the world where people still dive for food in apnea. As a poet, he introduces us to the world’s sea legends and mythology.


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