VII International Wreck Diving Festival is over!

Last Saturday, 11 February, the VII International Wreck Diving Festival took place in the halls of the University of Warsaw. For the first time since its inception, the event was held outside of Łódź. All thanks to the growing popularity and development accompanying the subsequent editions.

Moving from Łódź to Warsaw was supposed to spread wings and raise the rank of the event. A breath of fresh air could be felt from the very beginning. Great organization and preparations made allowed for efficient registration of participants.

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A cheerful day, for this time of year, and even more cheerful faces of the organisers and friends who came down to the capital from different parts of the country to take part in the sensationally promising event.

The list of speakers and the topics they had to present was impressive, so it’s no wonder that both I and the participants I questioned promised themselves a lot after the next lectures.

The old truth says that you can’t have everything and unfortunately this was also the case during the 7th International Wreck Diving Festival. The number of invited guests and developed topics, forced to conduct presentations simultaneously in 3 and sometimes even 4 rooms! And how to find a moment to talk with friends! You really had to make an effort to lose as little as possible from this wreck feast.

If I said that it was hard to single out any one moment, I would have to lie a little. While the level of all the lectures was equally high, I and my companions were most impressed by Dr Brendan Foley, who presented the latest discoveries from the legendary Antikythera wreck.

Wonderful photos and a report that takes your breath away – that’s how you can briefly describe what awaited the participants of this lecture. Those who came chose wisely, those who opted for simultaneous presentations made, in my opinion, the biggest mistake of that Saturday. But maybe it was just a matter of taste.

The event was traditionally ended with an auction of wonderful items, the proceeds from which, as usual, were to be donated to a noble cause and to support Lodz Hospice for Children. There was plenty of fun, the host – Marcin Jamkowski, as usual, did a great job, and the participants also showed that they have a gesture.

After the official part was over, it was time to celebrate and have a banquet at the Tyszkiewicz-Potocki Palace, but that doesn’t need our coverage…

In conclusion, it must be emphasised that the festival benefited from moving to the capital. You could feel the freshness, new energy and willingness to take the event to the next, higher level. Let’s hope that this tendency will be maintained and all words of appreciation and compliments will be confirmed at the next festival. However, we will only find out about this in 2019.

Photo: Organizer