Wally Gibbins- underwater pioneer and champion skindiver

Wally was born in Sydney on 19th January 1930 and passed away at Coffs Harbour on 12th August 2006– but in the 76 years in between he had saltwater in his blood as he explored the mysteries of the marine environment and inspired countless skin and SCUBA divers. Wally’s relationship with fish and the marine environment goes way back into the 1940's as a young lad he harpooned leatherjackets from the jetties of Sydney Harbour to feed his family. Here he nurtured his passion for fishing, and sought to improve his catching methods.

The next logical step for Wally was to get into the water but in those days this was seen as madness because “Your will get eaten by a shark”. Despite the danger and with very limited equipment and no training Wally turned into an inventor and made his own mask, snorkel, belts, SCUBA (Self Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus) and speargun and read what he could in early magazines such as National Geographic and books such as The Complete Goggler by Guy KiIlpatrick (1938) and The Silent Sea (1953) by Cousteau. Most speargun manufacturers use his speargun design even today. Wally was very innovative but didn't believe in registering any of his inventions, and freely gave his skills and abilities to any who asked for help in this field

Wal’s first shark capture was a Wobbegong Shark caught at Middle Head in 1947. In 1950, Wally shot and landed the first man-eating shark in Australia - a Bronze Whaler. The capture of a shark by a skindiver (rather than a man being eaten by a shark) created headline news and crowds at the Sydney beach. Another notable capture was a large 860lbs (over 400kg) Tiger Shark that Wally captured with a spear at Sykes Reef near Heron Island in 1963. These events and the media interest in Jaws (book and movie) led to a proposed $1,000,000 death match on TV between Wally Gibbins “Crowd pleasing lightweight” and a Super (Great White Shark) Shark “Scourge of Samoa”- the plan fizzled when the US promoter dropped dead.

Wally had a salvage business “The Diving Company” in Sydney and became Australia's foremost wreck diver, and discovered many shipwrecks around the Australian coast, along with his diving mates. Perhaps the most famous wreck was the "Yongala" off the coast of Townsville in Nth Queensland. It is reported that Wally dived alone to incredible depths (250 feet) on SCUBA to salvage propellers on sunken vessels – these exploits would be considered suicide today when the recommended maximum depth for sport divers is 20m (66 feet) and the dangers of decompression sickness. There was nothing that Wally wouldn't tackle to repair either mechanical, electrical or with wood.

Wally Gibbins inspired many thousands and we celebrate the achievements of an underwater pioneer. There are tens of thousands of freedivers in Australia who have benefited from the pioneering spirit and skill of legends such as Wally Gibbins. Wally was an inspiration to many junior divers who met him, and they stood around in awe of what he had achieved in the sport of spearfishing and learnt from him.