John Paul Volanthen, (born June 1971) is a British

cave diver Cave-diving is underwater diving in water-filled caves. It may be done as an extreme sport, a way of exploring flooded caves for scientific investigation, or for the search for and recovery of divers or, as in the 2018 Thai cave rescue, other ...

who undertakes cave rescues through the

Cave Rescue Organisation The Cave Rescue Organisation (CRO) is a voluntary body based in the caving area of the Yorkshire Dales in northern England. Founded in 1935, it is the first cave rescue agency in the world. Although it is staffed by volunteers and funded by dona ...

, South and Mid Wales Cave Rescue, and the

British Caving Association The British Caving Association (BCA) is the sports governing body for caving in the United Kingdom. It is recognised by UK Sport, Sport England and SportScotland. History The British Speleological Association (BSA) was founded in 1935, but ...

. In 2018, he played a leading role in the

Tham Luang cave rescue In June and July 2018, a junior association football team and their assistant coach were rescued from the Tham Luang Nang Non cave in Chiang Rai Province in northern Thailand. Twelve members of the team, aged 11 to 16, and their 25-year-old ass ...

. He cave-dives as a hobby and conducts rescues as a volunteer. He works as an

IT consultant In management, information technology consulting (also called IT consulting, computer consultancy, business and technology services, computing consultancy, technology consulting, and IT advisory) is a field of activity which focuses on advising or ...

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

Early life and education

Volanthen was born in June 1971, and grew up in

Brighton Brighton () is a seaside resort and one of the two main areas of the City of Brighton and Hove in the county of East Sussex, England. It is located south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze A ...

, England. Volanthen's surname is an anglicised spelling of the Swiss surname "Von Lanthen" — his paternal grandfather was Swiss. He attended

Longhill High School Longhill High School is a co-educational secondary school for 11 to 16 year-olds, which is located in Rottingdean, Brighton and Hove, East Sussex. History The school was officially opened in 1964, although took its first intake in 1963. The s ...

Rottingdean Rottingdean is a village in the city of Brighton and Hove, on the south coast of England. It borders the villages of Saltdean, Ovingdean and Woodingdean, and has a historic centre, often the subject of picture postcards. Name The name Rottingde ...

, and later

De Montfort University De Montfort University Leicester (DMU) is a public university in the city of Leicester, England. It was established in accordance with the Further and Higher Education Act in 1992 as a degree awarding body. The name De Montfort University was tak ...

Leicester Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands. The city l ...

where he studied electronics.

Caving and rescues

Early interest

Volanthen's interest in caving began when he was a

scout Scout may refer to: Youth movement *Scout (Scouting), a child, usually 10–18 years of age, participating in the worldwide Scouting movement **Scouts (The Scout Association), section for 10-14 year olds in the United Kingdom **Scouts BSA, sectio ...

. He began cave diving through a social club when he attended college.

Rescues

Volanthen frequently cave dives and conducts rescues with a partner,

Richard Stanton Richard Stanton (October 8, 1876 – May 22, 1956) was an American actor and director of the silent era. He appeared in 68 films between 1911 and 1916. He also directed 57 films between 1914 and 1925. He was born in Iowa and died in Los An ...

. He was part of a team that attempted a cave rescue of Eric Establie in 2010, in the Dragonnière Gaud Cave near

Labastide-de-Virac Labastide-de-Virac (; oc, La Bastida de Virac) is a commune A commune is an alternative term for an intentional community. Commune or comună or comune or other derivations may also refer to: Administrative-territorial entities * Commune (adm ...

in the

Ardèche Ardèche (; oc, Ardecha; frp, Ardecha) is a department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of Southeastern France. It is named after the river Ardèche and had a population of 328,278 as of 2019. In 2011, Volanthen assisted in the recovery of the body of Polish cave diver Artur Kozłowski from a cave in

Kiltartan Kiltartan is a barony and civil parish in County Galway, Ireland. The southern portion of this barony was formerly known as Cenél Áeda na hEchtge or O'Shaughnessy's Country, the northern portion was called Coill Ua bhFiachrach (the territory ...

, Ireland. Norwegian authorities asked him to assist in recovering the bodies of two Finnish divers from

Jordbrugrotta Jordbrugrotta is a cave in the upper parts of by the river in Rana municipality in Nordland county in Norway. The cave is named after the farm Jordbrua further down the valley. The cave is situated about two kilometers south of the dam at Kal ...

in 2014, but after diving down to the site he and his colleagues assessed the operation to be too risky. The bodies were subsequently recovered by Finnish and Norwegian divers. In 2018, he helped locate a youth football team in the

; he and Stanton were the first to make contact with them. Poor visibility, cave and rescue debris, and low temperatures were all obstacles to cave diving in search of the team. Volanthen placed guidelines in the cave to assist others in navigation. After he ran out of line, he swam to the surface - there he found the missing team and the adult coach. Volanthen's voice is that heard on a widely broadcast video of the first contact with the football team, asking "How many of you?" When he learned that all the missing people were accounted for, he replied, "Brilliant." He and Stanton did not have any food to offer the team when they encountered them, but they gave them a light. When they left the team, Volanthen promised them that he would come back, doing so by assisting in delivering food. Volanthen disputed the notion that encountering the team was due to luck, saying that he and Stanton systematically surfaced at every airspace in the flooded cave passages to shout and listen for a response, as well as to smell for any indicators of human waste signifying the current or past presence of the team. They smelled the team before they saw them. Volanthen also assisted in rescuing members of the team; the children were enclosed in bags with handles on the backs for the divers to hold onto, and clipped to the divers. Parts of the cave were so narrow that the children were pushed in front of the divers. At other times, the children were held close to the chest or out to the side. Volanthen said that the children were held as if carrying a "shopping bag." In a BBC interview after the rescue, Volanthen was asked, "Can you see that what you did was fairly remarkable?" He responded, "I can see it was a first, how's that?"

Records

In 2004, Volanthen and Stanton set a record for the greatest depth achieved in a British cave, diving at

Wookey Hole Wookey Hole is a village in Somerset, England. It is the location of the Wookey Hole show caves. Location Wookey Hole is located in the civil parish of St Cuthbert Out, in Mendip District. It is one mile north-west of the city of Wells, and l ...

Somerset ( en, All The People of Somerset) , locator_map = , coordinates = , region = South West England , established_date = Ancient , established_by = , preceded_by = , origin = , lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset , lord_ ...

. In 2010, Volanthen, Stanton, Jason Mallinson, and René Houben set a world record for the longest cave penetration dive, reaching in the Pozo Azul cave system in the

Rudrón Valley The Rudrón Valley () is a valley of the province of Burgos, in the autonomous community of Castilla y León, Spain, that borders the autonomous community of Cantabria Cantabria (, also , , Cantabrian: ) is an autonomous community in northe ...

in Spain.

Equipment

Volanthen designs and constructs some of his own diving equipment, and has been called a "technical guru." He designed a mapping device that collects information while diving. He also designs and modifies his own

rebreather A rebreather is a breathing apparatus that absorbs the carbon dioxide of a user's breathing, exhaled breath to permit the rebreathing (recycling) of the substantially unused oxygen content, and unused inert content when present, of each breath. ...

s to increase their compactness and efficiency.

Awards and honours

Volanthen was awarded the

Royal Humane Society The Royal Humane Society is a British charity which promotes lifesaving intervention. It was founded in England in 1774 as the ''Society for the Recovery of Persons Apparently Drowned'', for the purpose of rendering first aid in cases of near dro ...

's bronze medal in 2012 for a rescue attempt of a diver in a French cave, and for the discovery of the diver's body. In September 2018, he was given the Bronze Cross,

The Scout Association The Scout Association is the largest Scouting organisation in the United Kingdom and is the World Organization of the Scout Movement's recognised member for the United Kingdom. Following the origin of Scouting in 1907, the association was for ...

's highest honour, awarded for "heroism or action in the face of extraordinary risk." In November 2018, Volanthen and five other members of the British cave rescue team were given the

Pride of Britain The Pride of Britain Awards is an annual award ceremony which has taken place in the United Kingdom since May 1999 and first televised on ITV in April 2000. The awards honour British people who have acted bravely or extraordinarily in challeng ...

2018 award for "Outstanding Bravery" for the Tham Luang incident. The rescued children attended the award ceremony, in London. In the

2019 New Year Honours The 2019 New Year Honours are appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The New Year Honours are awarded as part of the New Year celebratio ...

, Volanthen and Stanton were awarded the

George Medal The George Medal (GM), instituted on 24 September 1940 by King George VI,''British Gallantry Medals'' (Abbott and Tamplin), p. 138 is a decoration of the United Kingdom and Commonwealth, awarded for gallantry, typically by civilians, or in circ ...

(GM) for their roles at Tham Luang. Three other members of their team were made

Members of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

and two were awarded the

Queen's Gallantry Medal The Queen's Gallantry Medal (QGM) is a United Kingdom decoration awarded for exemplary acts of bravery where the services were not so outstanding as to merit the George Medal, but above the level required for the Queen's Commendation for Braver ...

. Volanthen was also awarded the

's Stanhope Medal for his role in the rescu

Books

Personal life

As a hobby, Volanthen runs

marathon The marathon is a long-distance foot race with a distance of , usually run as a road race, but the distance can be covered on trail routes. The marathon can be completed by running or with a run/walk strategy. There are also wheelchair div ...

s and

ultramarathon An ultramarathon, also called ultra distance or ultra running, is any footrace longer than the traditional marathon length of . Various distances are raced competitively, from the shortest common ultramarathon of to over . 50k and 100k are bot ...

s. He is also a volunteer

scout leader A Scout leader or Scouter generally refers to the trained adult leader of a Scout unit. The terms used vary from country to country, over time, and with the type of unit. Roles There are many different roles a leader can fulfill depending on t ...

with the Somerset Scouts, taking children on cave excursions. He was formerly married to Annabelle Richards.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Volanthen, John Alumni of De Montfort University British cavers Cave diving explorers English underwater divers 1971 births Living people English people of Swiss descent Recipients of the George Medal Pioneering technical divers People from Brighton Tham Luang cave rescue