Stathis Hatzis was a sponge diver and local hero from the island of Symi, Greece, who managed to secure a line to the fouled anchor chain of an Italian battleship off the island of Karpathos back in July 1913.
For three days, he had been performing several dives to unprecedented depths, even down to 100 meters, until he located the anchor of the ship.
Reaching a depth of 88 meters in an incredible dive lasting more than 3-1/2 minutes, he succeeded to do the impossible. When he reached the surface of the sea alive, he was almost unconscious having blood coming out of his nose. The Italians were left speechless despite the fact that they would have to leave without their battleship Regina Margueritta.
He was rewarded with a gold medal and the right to travel free for life on any Italian ship of his choice. Unfortunately, at the time he was living in America he was hit by cancer and was forced to come back to Greece, dying at the age of only 58 years old.
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