Project335 from the kitchen - interview with Robert Kalchert

Each passing day brings us closer to the big decision, which will be an attempt to set a new depth record in diving. Just before his departure for Dahab, where he is to join the rest of the members of Project335, we had a short interview with an experienced diving instructor and Dariusz Wilamowski’s trusted man – Robert Kalchert.

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Tomasz Andrukajtis: Hello Robert, to start with, can you tell us where you plan to dive?

Robert Kalchert: Hello, we intend to do the dive in Dahab, in the area of The Bells dive site.

TA: What is the composition of the personnel, the dive safety team?

RK: There will be 9 of us in total. Monika Markindorf will act as a chronometrist and supervise the support. Piotr Kudlak is responsible for logistics and will additionally be securing the dive. Additionally, we have 6 sport divers, consisting of: Karol Susicki, Piotr Archman, Marcin Martyniuk, Radek Mech, Andrzej Pniewski and Paweł Nowak. I will be personally responsible for the preparation of gases and coordination of Darek’s safety team.

TA: What is the situation with medical facilities?

RK: Medical cover is provided by the hyperbaric chamber in Dahab.

TA: Are you working with DAN on your project?

RK: No, we are not cooperating.

TA: Tell me, what is the issue of gas preparation?

RK: I am personally responsible for all the gases. Darek has full confidence in me, we have already carried out several projects together.

TA: How many mixes did you create for this dive?

RK: Ultimately, more than a dozen gases will be used.

TA: What does the decompression plan look like?

RK: The decompression plan will not be made public. It was created by Darek, apart from him the whole run time will be known only to 2 people.

TA: Was anyone consulted about the decompression process?

RK: No, the decompression profile is by Darek and was not consulted with anyone.

TA: How are the preparations going at the moment?

RK: Daily training consists of increasingly deep dives, at the moment “Miodzio” is systematically crossing the 200m mark.

TA: Such diving is a huge effort for the body, do you do any training besides diving?

RK: Of course. The breaks between dives are filled with fitness training, Darek exercises very intensively all the time.

TA: Thank you very much for the interview and good luck.

RK: Thank you and kind regards.

If you are interested in keeping up to date with what the participants of Project335 have been up to We invite you to visit our website often, where we will post the latest news straight from Dahab!

Source: Divers24