The Ted Eldred Award was established by the Historical Diving Society Australia-Pacific in 2003 to recognise the role of Ted Eldred in the design and manufacture of the world’s truly first single hose demand valve in 1952, the ‘Porpoise’ Scuba. Nominations for the Ted Eldred Award are called for every year to consider a member who has made a significant contribution in furthering the objectives of the HDS Aus-Pac. Contribution can be research into any aspects of diving history, preservation of equipment or records, promotion and advertising of diving history and contribution to Classic Diver magazine to name a few.
Any member of the Historical Diving Society Australia-Pacific may nominate a person for the Ted Eldred Award. The nomination will need to state the reasons and be seconded by another member. A call for nominations is usually included in the Autumn edition of Classic Diver. All nominations are then considered by the committee and, if awarded, is usually announced at the AGM. Our list of previous winners is:
2003: Ted Eldred
2004: Mel Brown
2008: Tony Gregory
2011: Frank Ziegler
2012: Stephen Taylor
2014: Jeff Maynard
2016: Keith Gordon
2017: Des Williams
2019: Allan Kessler
2020: Barry Andrewartha
