V Wreck Diving Festival - profiles of the speakers

February 2015 is getting closer and closer, and with it a storm of diving events. One of the most interesting seems to be the 5th Wreck Diving Festival in Lodz, scheduled for Saturday 21 February. After 2 years of waiting, once again in the “city of fibers” we will be able to immerse ourselves in a number of topics related to diving, discovery and exploration of wrecks. What and who exactly is waiting for us in Łódź? We already have some information!

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Obviously, the list of invited guests is the element which, on the occasion of events such as conferences, always arouses the greatest interest. As for today, we already know ten speakers who are related to various aspects of wreck diving and are willing to share this knowledge with us.

Let me start with a name which, wherever it appears, is a guarantee of high professional level and… good humour – Leigh Bishop. The Englishman will once again appear in Poland to talk about what he knows like few others – wreck exploration and creating photographic documentation in extremely difficult conditions. Those of our readers who had the opportunity to attend Leigh’s lecture or have a private conversation with him know that it is worth it. Those who haven’t had any contact with this amazing guest have something to catch up on.

In keeping with the legendary Polish hospitality, we present the next speakers from abroad. The first of them is Dr Timmy Gambin – a lecturer in maritime archaeology at the Department of Archaeology, University of Malta. As most of you probably guess, the discussion should be about finding the Polish wreck of ORP “Kujawiak”.

From frozen Finland, in turn, will come Immi Wallin, a woman who has been diving since she was 12 years old, and has been working in the industry since the early 80s. Her passion is, of course, the exploration of wrecks lying on the bottom of the Baltic Sea. She also runs a company dealing with underwater research and exploration – SubZone. For our regular readers and wreck diving enthusiasts, the fact that she is a member of the Finnish group Badewanne, whose achievements we have presented on our pages many times, will certainly explain a lot.

The festival “line up” is completed so far by seven of our compatriots, from whom we can also expect many interesting lectures.

Marcin Jamkowski is a character who needs no introduction for most of the people visiting the Wreck Festival in the previous years. He is responsible for running the whole event and being the link between the hosts, invited guests and festival participants. Marcin is a man with very broad interests and many achievements not only in the field of wreck diving. Ex-journalist of such magazines as Wyborcza, National Geographic (in the years 2005-2007 chief editor of the Polish edition). In 2004 he led an international expedition to the wreck of the legendary German ship “Steuben”. He is also the author of the book “Duchy z głębin Bałtyku. Gustloff, Steuben, Goya” about the greatest sea tragedies that took place in the Baltic Sea in the final phase of the Second World War. For all of Marcin’s achievements and accomplishments, we would need a separate text, so those interested in his full CV should refer to here.

Adam Wysoczański’s debut at the Wreck Festival in Lodz is also behind him. It will be all the more pleasant to learn more from his extensive CV. Adam has many years of experience as an SCR and CCR diver and is also a diving instructor on such vessels as: Draeger Dolphin, Inspiration Classic, Inspiration Vision, Megalodon and Poseidon MK 6. He has participated in many international wreck expeditions and is also the man responsible for preparing photo and video documentation during deep wreck explorations.

Daniel Pastwa – it is no exaggeration to say that he is an encyclopaedia in the field of WWII wrecks. Apart from dives, which must be counted in hundreds, he has correctly identified several vessels lying on the bottom of the Baltic Sea (U-boats U 272, U 367, U 768, torpedo boats: T3, A3, torpedo boat G-5, minesweeper M 85, workshop Hans Albrecht Wedel, seaplane He 59. The participants of the last Baltictech conference will certainly remember his lecture very well, those who could not attend should not make such a mistake a second time.

Piotr Kardasz, author of the website kardasz.netwhere he publishes his film masterpieces. Whether it is a dive in a lake, a wreck, a flooded mine or a cave, with Piotr in your team, you can be sure that the collected video material will be something unique and produced at the highest level. It is no wonder that with such extensive knowledge and skills he is invited to participate in a wide variety of projects. Definitely a guy worth listening to and learning from.

Magdalena Nowakowska, best known to our readers for her work in the field of underwater archaeology. Apart from many interesting projects connected with underwater archaeology and wrecks, Magda is also a professional diver of the second class. Since 2001 she has been professionally connected with the Institute of Archaeology of the University of Warsaw. She has carried out very interesting works in Crimea and Georgia. The enormity of her achievements in the archaeological field means that those interested must refer to the fuller text published by the organiser.

Piotr Stós is most associated with underwater photography. A hydrobiologist by education, he started his passion for diving and documenting the underwater world in 1986. At that time, he gained recognition as an excellent professional and influenced and trained many other photographers, whose pictures arouse admiration of the diving fraternity today.

Mirosław Szczepański is the last name on the list of invited guests we have met so far. Doctor of Medicine, ENT specialist and private diver. One sentence, but it should give everyone who dives an idea of what Dr Szczepański specialises in and what will be discussed during the meeting with him.

As you can see, the organisers made sure that the group of invited guests was an interesting mix of experts from various fields that are inextricably linked with wreck diving. In front of those who are going to the 5th Wreck Diving Festival in Lodz, a very interesting picture is drawn, and we hope that this is not all that awaits us on 21 February 2015 in the building of the Technical University of Lodz!

Source: Organiser