News

Michael Menduno—Editor-in-Chief of InDEPTH magazine and the man credited with coining the term “technical diving”—passed away in hospital on October 3rd, about a month after suffering a stroke. He was 73.

Known to his many friends and colleagues as “M2,” Menduno founded aquaCORPS: The Journal for Technical Diving and its sister-magazine Technical Diver, which were published between 1990 and 1996, and helped launch tech diving as a discipline. InDEPTH magazine, which launched in 2018, grew out of long-running conversations between Menduno and GUE founder Jarrod Jablonski. After getting his full cave diver certification in 1990, Menduno worked closely with Captain Billy Deans to establish the first US tech diving training center.

Menduno also produced major tech diving events, such as the Tek, EUROTek and ASIATek conferences, the early Rebreather Forums, and most recently, Rebreather Forum 4, which was held in Malta in 2023. A charismatic, sought-after speaker who gave hundreds of talks at shows, workshops, and conferences, he received the OZTEKMedia Excellence Award in 2011, the EUROTek Lifetime Achievement Award in 2012, and the TEKDive USA Media Award in 2018. He was also a senior editor and writer for DAN Europe, a regular contributor to various dive publications, and a member of the board of the Historical Diving Society USA (2019–2024).

Read the various tributes to Menduno on his Facebook page. Our heartfelt condolences to Michael’s family and friends.