New Guinness record for women's cave diving

Karen van den Oever set a new Guinness World Record for female cave diving yesterday. She made her dive in the legendary Boesmansgat cave in South Africa.

During her record-breaking dive, van den Oever reached a depth of 236 metres. With her feat, she beat Verna van Schaik’s record of almost 17 years. She conducted her dive in open water.

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South African-born van Schaik plunged to a depth of 221 metres on 28 November 2004. She also set her Guinness record for cave diving during a dive in Boesmansgat cave.

At the moment, the result achieved by Karen van den Oever is awaiting official approval. Once all procedures are completed, we will be able to talk about a new Guinness record in women’s cave diving.

Located in South Africa, Boesmansgat Cave is an iconic site for divers. Such diving pioneers as Sheck Exley and Nuno Gomes have explored it. The latter, in 1996, descending to the very bottom (283 m), also set a world record in cave diving.

As well as Guinness World Records for diving, the cave has also been the site of great tragedies. One of the most famous is The death of David Shaw in 2005. An Australian man died trying to retrieve the body of a young diver who had suffered an accident many years earlier.