Buddy diving just before and after the Second World War. After the invention of the "aqualung" by Cousteau and Gagnan, the first commercially underwater breathing apparatus became available for sale for sporting purposes in the late 1940s. As the new sport of scuba diving rapidly expanded through the 1950s, several sporting organisations—notably the YMCA—began programmes to train swimming enthusiasts in this new aquatic pastime, and began to codify what they believed were proper practises for this expanding sport. The YMCA considered the buddy system a useful corollary to the "never swim alone" rule of their swimming and lifesaving programmes. Cousteau himself independently
Alexandra Cousteau Alexandra Cousteau Alexandra Marguerite Clémentine Cousteau (born March 21, 1976) is a filmmaker and an environmental activist. Cousteau continues the work of her grandfather Jacques-Yves Cousteau and father Philippe Cousteau, Sr. Cousteau advocates the importance of conservation, restoration and sustainable management of ocean and water resources for a healthy planet and productive societies. Cousteau is the daughter of Philippe Cousteau and Jan Cousteau and the granddaughter of French explorer and filmmaker Jacques-Yves Cousteau and Simone Cousteau. She is a member of the third generation Cousteau family who explore and explain the natural world. At the age of four months, Cousteau