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The Command Element brought this article to my attention and casually said “I sent you an article about a famous Navy diver… he’s wearing a watch!” Oh, he’s wearing a watch alright! Maybe it’s better described as THE WATCH. Bob Croft is rigged-up with what I judge to be a @blancpain1735 #fiftyfathoms Milspec 1 in this photo published on February 7, 2026, in his @washingtonpost obituary titled “Bob Croft, free diver who ventured deeper than anyone before him, dies at 91.” The Post article describes him as a “barrel-chested… underwater guinea pig for Navy scientists.” Mr. Croft was a 20+ year diver for the Navy where he served on nine different submarines, and volunteered to be a research subject for Navy doctors and scientists developing air packing techniques for breath-hold diving. He was the first human being to freedive beyond 200 feet, and set three world records (2x in 1967; and 1x in 1969). Let that sink in. He freedove deeper than anybody had gone before multiple times! Remarkable! He stayed engaged with the diving community throughout his whole life as an instructor, videographer, and even a manufacturer (of diving compression chambers). In 2016, he received the NOGI which is essentially the Academy Award of the ocean-dwellers. NOGI stands for New Orleans Grand Isle, referring to a 1950s-era spearfishing tournament held near New Orleans. The award originated in 1960 to honor leaders in skin and SCUBA diving, originally presented by the Underwater Society of America and later taken over by the Academy of Underwater Arts & Sciences in 1993. The freediving community certainly lost a plankholder. Well, maybe THE PLANKHOLDER! There you have it, folks. A bona fide freediving legend wearing a legendary watch. It doesn’t get much better than that! Rest easy, Mr. Croft! SEND IT! ~ PRESENT & READY #freediving #fiftyfathoms #washingtonpost #watchesofinstagram

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