John Volanthen
Video
John Volanthen - Veteran Cave Diver, Tham Luang caves Thailand rescue mission
Speaking Topics
Mindset
Motivation
Resilience
Overcoming adversity
Bio
In his fascinating, uplifting and gripping keynote and motivational speech ‘Achieving the impossible’, John takes audiences on the journey of a lifetime into the dark and deep caves of Thailand. The veteran cave diver tells the story of how he first located and made contact with the young and scared team in the Tham Luang caves of Thailand in the summer of 2018. He then goes on to detail the crucial role he played in the rescue operation. With heart-pounding anecdotes from the ordeal, Volanthen hammers home the importance of perseverance, determination, and preparation, and explains why he believes success in life is rarely due to “luck.” An IT consultant by day, he also shares with audiences his belief that anyone can rise to the occasion and achieve extraordinary things in the face of insurmountable odds. With pictures and video, he communicates what it was like to be there and the joy he felt when it was all over. Uplifting and inspiring, John’s story is one in a million.
A world record-holding British caver and cave diver, John has been involved in cave exploration over the last two decades. He began caving with the scouts at the age of 14 and has been at the forefront of cave exploration since combining caving and diving. In 2018, John played a key role in the Tham Luang Thailand cave rescue and was named one of TIME magazine’s “Heroes of the Year.”
John has been involved in exploring and mapping caves throughout the world, including the UK, Europe, and Malaysia, often with dive partner Rick Stanton. John attended the Tham Luang incident in Thailand, along with his cave dive partner, Rick. The duo were able to successfully locate the missing children—something not even special forces were able to do—and then participated in their extraction and successful rescue, leading the team two-and-a-half miles through a flooded dungeon of a cave buried deep inside a mountain. A video of Volanthen and Stanton making initial contact with the team has since gone viral globally.
In 2004, Volanthen and Stanton set a British record for greatest depth achieved in a British cave, cave diving 76 m (249 ft) at Wookey Hole in Somerset. Additionally, in 2011, John Volanthen, set a world record for longest cave penetration dive, over 10km in the Pozo Azul cave system in the Rudrón Valley in Spain, involving a multi-day operation, camping in the cave.
John has built and modified diving equipment for 15 years, adapting units commercially available, and building other equipment to meet the unique requirements of individual caves. John also built a sump mapping device to survey long and deep sumps where traditional techniques are not feasible.
John has been involved in a number of search, rescue, and recovery incidents including the recovery of Paul Esser, the Gliesion Colliary flooding, and the search for Eric Estable in the Ardeche for which John was awarded the Royal Humane Society Bronze medal.
SLCC UK Conference
“OMG what a way to end conference- he was amazing, so inspirational, and an absolute pleasure to have as our conference keynote.”
EMEA President, Dupont
“Thank you for your very inspiring talk, and even more important, saving the lives of the children.”
Dell Computers
“The event turned out to be much more intimate than expected, but in terms of John’s presence, absolutely fantastic :) He brought his story in the most serene way, perfect for the purpose of what we had in mind, and nicely playing into perseverance and creativity. I strongly recommend John to any other event organizer – his added value is tremendous, in any format, to any audience”
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