Billy Deans (diver)

"Captain" Billy Deans is a pioneering wreck and technical diver. Although "Captain" is the nickname which is universally applied to Billy Deans, he is in fact a US Coast Guard-rated captain up to 100 tons.

Billy Deans is a former member of the board of directors of International Association of Nitrox and Technical Divers (IANTD). He was a technical diving instructor for the US Government. In addition to teaching diving to the United States Army Corps of Engineers, he also taught Special forces divers for the United States Army and the United States Navy. He is also a Professional Association of Diving Instructors (PADI) and National Association of Underwater Instructors (NAUI) recreational diving instructor.

In Kevin McMurray's book, Deep Descent, Billy Deans is described as "the world's best diver".

Billy Deans was one of the early pioneers in relation to the use of trimix for deep diving. During the exploration of U-869 chronicled in the best selling book, Shadow Divers, John Chatterton and Richie Kohler sought instruction from Billy Deans in the use of trimix (which had, until then, largely been restricted to cave exploration diving in Florida). These presaged a number of North Eastern wreck divers to seek trimix training from Billy Deans, leading to its popularity as a deep diving breathing gas.

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