International free diving competition with skandalopetra will be held on Karpathos island between 16 and 19 July.
A large number of Greek and foreign divers are expected to take part in the competition aiming to break the world record.
The competition is organised by Karpathos municipality and is dedicated to legendary Stathis Hatzis, a sponge diver from the island of Symi.
On 14 July 1913 the Italian warship ‘Regina Margarita’ lost her anchor outside the port of Karpathos. The divers’ attempts to find the anchor were fruitless and the captain of the ship asked the sponge divers of Kalymnos with the special diving suit called “skafandro” to find the anchor. However, the anchor was lying at 70-80 meters depth and divers could not reach such depth at the time. The islanders suggested to call Stathis Hatzis from Symi claiming that he was they only one who would dare to go so deep.
Hatzis dived with the skandalopetra and located the anchor at 83m depth.
The skandalopetra (or simply petra, “stone”) is a stone, usually of marble or granite, weighing between 8 and 14 kg, with rounded corners and hydrodynamic shape. It was the only tool used by divers, since the time of Alexander the Great. The fishermen, naked, were tied on the stone with a thin cord. The skandalopetra itself was tied on the boat with the same rope. This link allowed fishermen to dive safely for centuries.
Skandalopetra diving was used until the early 60’s but the diving industrialization and the fact that it was a very dangerous and difficult work led to its complete disappearance.
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