Eric Hanauer

For the first sixteen years of Eric Hanauer’s professional career, diving took a backseat to swimming. He was a successful coach at the high school and university level while developing the grab start, now used by competitive swimmers everywhere.

Eric founded the scuba program at California State University Fullerton, and for 35 years, was its Diving Safety Officer. He trained over 2,000 students in courses ranging from basic scuba to underwater photography before retiring in 1999 as an Associate Professor of Kinesiology.

Eric’s first magazine article appeared in Skin Diver in 1977. That launched a parallel career as a writer and photographer that took Eric around the world in the heyday of the magazine industry. Eventually, he expanded into other publications, including Dive Training, Fathoms, Scubapro Diving and Snorkeling, Scuba Times, and Sport Diver. His byline has appeared in more than 1,000 articles, many reprinted internationally. The recipient of the prestigious NOGI (New Orleans Grand Isle) Award in Sports/Education in 2019 presented by the Underwater Academy of Arts and Sciences, Eric has written four other books: The Egyptian Red Sea, Diving Pioneers, Diving Micronesia, and Immersion, a corporate history of Aqua Lung.