Fatally Flawed describes the journey from novice diver to World Record Holder for the deepest cave dive for a woman. However, the book is more than a mere chronology of progressively deeper dives. It’s more than a description of support divers and decompression stages. Verna van Schaik shares her aspirations and desires as well as her inner most fears and lurking demon as she reveals:

“There was no way I could make myself go further. I turned around and got out of the water – disgusted with myself. I had this strong sense of foreboding and no matter how hard I tried, I just couldn’t rationalise away my fear of this dive.” (p. 85)

“…the thought of drowning underwater with no escape was my worst fear.” (p. 90)

The account of her life, training dives and record attempts is thoughtful and gives a candid insight into the world of a record-breaking diver. She describes the personal sacrifices she had to make to achieve her goal including the marginalisation of friends and relatives as well as the destruction of personal relationships. Verna also provides an insight into the sexist behaviour of fellow divers, of macho culture and the struggle she had in gaining acceptance at the pinnacle of her sport. Verna does not claim she is a brave person – far from it. However, the description of her training dive, prior to her record attempt is harrowing. Being snagged in a narrow passage at a depth of 152 metres, having to unclip a fin and release a cylinder containing vital gas must be terrifying. She recounts:

“I was lost in a whirl of silt – red particles drifting in front furiously around me … this was about getting free and getting back alive… I realised that I had known – somehow, I had known – that this dive would kill me.” (p. 89)

The above extracts, whilst dramatic, fail to fully convey the challenges she faced in diving and creating a new life for herself. Verna van Schaik is simply a remarkable and inspiring person.

If I have a criticism of Fatally Flawed it would be the space given to the tragic death of Dave Shaw and the near death of Don Shirley in the Boesmansgat sink hole a few days after Verna’s record-breaking dive. For a detailed, dramatic and moving account of the circumstances surrounding this ill-fated dive read Raising the Dead (2008) by Phillip Finch – see Book Review www.scubaverse.com/book-review-raising-the-dead-by-phillip-finch/

There is an argument for its inclusion. Verna was the Dive Marshall for the ill-fated dive and the most experienced diver at the depth they were attempting. However, the problematic preparation for their dive, incidents during the dive and changed circumstances at extreme depth would have caused many to abandon the attempt, but Dave Shaw didn’t. I suspect this is why Verna included the account.

Did their “quest to be the deepest” reveal a fatal flaw in their character? Were they so driven to achieve their goal that they systematically underestimated the obvious dangers? Did they continue beyond the point of no return? Certainly, other accounts in Fatally Flawed serve to illustrate an obsession amongst potential record breakers and explorers that verges on tunnel vision. As divers push the frontiers, test their personal limits and work at or beyond the edge of the available technology life and death are finely balanced. Sadly, for many at the frontiers it leaves them seconds away from one last breath.

For the record: On 25^th October 2004 Verna van Schaik entered the water at the Boesmansgat sink hole in South Africa. It took her twelve minutes to drop to 221 metres but over five hours to return to the surface and claim the world record.

You may have no interest in cave diving or breaking records. However, I am sure you will appreciate, if not enjoy, Fatally Flawed.

• Fatally Flawed: The Quest to be the Deepest (2008)
• By Verna van Schaik
• ISBN 9780620404723         196 pages

Find out more about Professor Fred Lockwood, who is also a published author, at www.fredlockwood.co.uk.