CYPRUS: WWII veteran breaks his own scuba diving record

A 96-year-old WWII veteran, who holds the World Guinness record for being the oldest diver on the planet, plunged 42.5 metres to explore the Zenobia shipwreck off Cyprus.

Ray Woolley, celebrating his 96th birthday, went down 42.5 metres and stayed there for 48 minutes, breaking last year’s previous record of 40.6 metres and 44 minutes.

Some 57 divers from Cyprus and abroad joined him under the water.

Woolley thanked everyone for coming “for this occasion, when on my 96th birthday I have managed to break my record again.”

“To have this number of people diving with me and sharing the experience comes once a year and I am over the moon by it.”

He expressed the hope that next year he will be able “to do this again.”

Woolley, who lives in Cyprus, was a radio operator in WWII. Has successively broken two previous records he held in 2017 and 2018. He is originally from Port Sunlight in northwest England.

His new record was supported by the Larnaca Tourism Development and Promotion Company to the Zenobia wreck, which sunk in June 1980 and is considered to be among the best diving spots in the world.

Nicknamed ‘The Titanic of the Mediterranean’, the 165-metre ferry was carrying varied cargo when she sank such as articulated lorries, cars, military equipment, games, food and telecommunication systems.

She now lies on her portside on a flat bed of sand and rocks, 1.5km from the shore. The seabed is at a depth of 42m, and the top of the wreck is 16m below the water surface.

The Zenobia wreck has now become a protected artificial reef, with many species of fish.