Alain FORET is the creator (1999) and main author of the Plongée Plaisir series published by GAP Editions. Depending on the publications, other authors contribute their skills in specific fields. You will find below a presentation of these different authors.
Alain FORET
ISNI (International Standard Name Identifier):0000 0000 0152 3672
Born in 1963 in Morocco, Alain FORET discovered diving there in the summer of 1969, on the Atlantic coast, in the first bay north of Bouznika called by the Ancients “swallow beach“. The one on which are now built a golf course, a palace and a tourist residence. At the time, this 4 km long bay stretched between inland plantations (wheat, tomatoes, potatoes, corn depending on the year) and the ocean on the other side of a sand dune. 10 m high. This coastline was virgin, except for 3 cabins, one of which his family occupied, facing the ocean. Naturally, he was passionate about free diving, which he practiced for many years, before turning mainly to scuba diving.
Unlike scuba diving which requires the presence of adults and requires a short immersion time (30 minutes, 1 hour), free diving allows you to stay in the water for a long time (3h to 5h), between people of the same age, without requiring complex equipment (at the beginning of the 1970s, in Morocco even more than in France, inflating bottles was not easy and remained an occasional practice…). For children or teenagers, it was freedom while developing diving skills through “soaking time”, essentially: propulsion, breathing (including in rollers and in the swell), balance, knowledge of the underwater world. marine, currents, tides... All the basics!
Alain FORET is a State 2 certified instructoredegree (BEES2/DESJEPS), International CMAS 3* Instructor, Nitrox and Trimix FFESSM/CMAS Instructor, rebreather diver, speaker, author of press articles and numerous books on diving, its teaching and its history.
As an authority on pedagogy and teaching of diving, he introduced from 1999 transversal pedagogy in all Plongée Plaisir books, from beginner to instructor.
He was secretary general of the FFESSM between 2002 and 2009, representative of the FFESSM at CMAS from 2004 to 2009, founding member of CMAS-Europe in 2005, secretary general of the National Union of Diving Instructors (SNMP) from 2014 to 2017.
He is also the author or co-author of documentaries on diving and the underwater world, includingNever without my flippersbroadcast on France 2 andAlbert Falco, the Oceanautbroadcast onTV5 Canada, Ushuaïa TV, Martinique Première, France 3, IRIB, Léman Bleu.
Currently: CEO.
First formation
- Preparatory classes for the Grandes Ecoles, 1981
- Sup de Co Montpellier (Montpellier Business School), finance audit option, 1985
- Computer scientist, analyst-programmer (Pascal, Fortran, Cobol, C, GAP II/III, Prolog, …)
Learned societies
- Member of MedSubHyp (since 2019)
Diving certificates and associated titles
- Status Monitor 2edegree (BEES2 n° 33960217) / DESJEPS – underwater diving option (instructor trainer – instructor trainer)
- Class II-B professional diver
- 3 star CMAS instructor
- Regional instructor FFESSM n° 08-41
- FFESSM/CMAS Nitrox monitor n°FRAF00ANI000523
- Trimix monitor FFESSM/CMAS n°FRAF00E4000003
- Inspiration Vision Air Rebreather Diver n° FRAF00731800934
- Initiator in Underwater Biology FFESSM
- FFESSM underwater video monitor
- Rescue diver PADI n°96116444
- Platinium Pro 5000 diver SSI n° 638015 (2004)
Books published
- Plongée Plaisir 1 in collaboration with Pablo Torres, Editions GAP
- Plongée Plaisir 2 in collaboration with Pablo Torres, Editions GAP
- Pleasure Diving 1 and 2 in collaboration with Pablo Torres, Editions GAP
- Pleasure Diving Memento level 1, Editions GAP
- Pleasure Diving Memento Regulations in collaboration with Me Pierre Dunac
- Pleasure Diving Memento level 4, Editions GAP
- Plongée Plaisir Memento Dive computers, Editions GAP
- Plongée Plaisir Memento Diving for children in collaboration with Pascal Enjalbert, Editions GAP
- Pleasure Diving 3, GAP Editions
- Pleasure Diving 4, GAP Editions
- Pleasure Diving: Initiator, GAP Editions
- Pleasure Diving: Exercises, GAP Editions
- Pleasure Diving: Monitorats, GAP Editions
- Illustra-Pack, Editions Téthys (800 schémas)
- OcéaNotes, Editions Téthys
- Biography of Albert Falco:Sormiou, Blue cradle of my memoriesin collaboration with Albert Falco, Editions GAP
- A history of diving and underwater sportsin collaboration with Pierre Martin-Razi, Subaqua, 2007
- Prevention of decompression sickness, translated from English, 2008 (original title: The Prevention of Compressed-Air Illness, Boycott, Damant and Haldane, 1908), Editions Téthys
- CMAS 1959-2024 à l’occasion des 65 ans de la CMAS, présentation à Monaco le 23 mars 2024, CMAS, 128 pages, couverture rigide, trois langues : français, anglais, espagnol.
As well as :
- As associate author Physiology and Medicine of Diving, coordinators: B. Broussolle and J.-L. Méliet, Ellipses, 2006
Prefaces
- 100 beautiful dives in Languedoc-Roussillon, Ed. GAP, 2005
- The Sleep of Wrecks, Chimeras, Patrice Strazzera, Author, 2005
Publications on ResearchGate (https://www.researchgate.net)
- Understanding Gradient Factors (GFs), May 2023
- On the reliability of dive computer generated run-times, Part XI: proposed new features for dive computersin collaboration with Miri Rosenblat, Nurit Vered and Albi Salm, April 2023.
- Letter to diving equipment manufacturers about instruction manualsin collaboration with Albi Salm, March 2023.
- History: research on desaturation accidents from the origins to 1905, Worldivers, March 2023.
- Haldanian modeling of desaturation, Worldivers, March 2023.
Press articles
- Plongez n°48, Rubrique réglementation : Les systèmes de certification dans le monde, novembre-décembre 2023.
- Plongez n°47, Rubrique réglementation : Plongée et respect de l’environnement (2/2), septembre-octobre 2023.
- Plongez n°46, Rubrique réglementation : Plongée et respect de l’environnement (1/2), juillet-août 2023.
- Dive n°45, Regulation section:The hierarchy of texts, May-June 2023.
- Dive n°44, Regulation section:Instruction manuals and diving equipment, March-April 2023.
- Dive n°43, Regulation section:Miners and diving, January-February 2023.
- Dive n°42, Regulation section:Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), November-December 2022.
- Dive n°41, Regulation section:Standards and “CE” marking, September-October 2022.
- Dive n°40, Encounter, article by Hervé Colombini,Alain Foret a scholar in the depths, July-August 2022.
- Dive n°40, Regulation section:The concept of responsibility, July-August 2022.
- Dive n°39, Regulation section:The medical certificate, May-June 2022
- Dive n°38, Regulation section:Division 240 – Pleasure diving, March-April 2022
- Subaqua,Desaturation models: all Haldanians!, N°300, January-February 2022, pp. 40-41
- Dive n°37, Regulation section:Signaling of immersion divers, January-February 2022
- Dive n°36, Regulation section:Pressure equipment (ESP), November-December 2021
- Dive n°35, Regulation section:Obligation of good repute, September-October 2021
- Dive n°34, Regulation section:Obligation of emergency and security means, July-August 2021
- Dive n°33, Regulation section:Establishments open to the public (ERP), May-June 2021
- Dive n°32, Regulation section:APS establishments: what obligations?, March-April 2021
- Dive n°31, Regulation section:Patents, skills and qualifications, January-February 2021
- Dive n°30, Regulation section:The diving director, November-December 2020
- Dive n°29, Regulation section:Diving insurance, September-October 2020
- Dive n°27, Regulation section:Diving tanks, May-June 2020
- Plongez n°23, dossier on diving in the Costa Brava (Destination: Costa Brava, diving in the land of artists), September 2019
- Dive n°2, Arthur Guérin-Boëri, The stradivarius of apnea, March-April 2016
- Col Bleu n° 2994 du 9 juin 2012, Hommage à Albert Falco, page 9.
- International Divers,International Patent Recognition, September 2010
- Return to Sudan withAlbert FALCOin April 2005 on the premises of Précontinent II (life experiences under the sea), Subaqua, n°203
- Diving education around the world – Subaqua Review n° 197
- Transversal pedagogy – Subaqua Review n° 178
- Aid for commercial structures – Subaqua Review n° 176
- Aid and subsidies, the obstacle course? Subaqua Review #174
- Pressure vessels – Revue Subaqua – Nov-Dec 2000 (in collaboration with J.-P. Montagnon)
- Anthias: the big mistake – Revue Subaqua n° 173
- Diver's insurance – Subaqua Review n° 169
- 2002-2006, column in the magazine Subaqua, as general secretary of the FFESSM (bimonthly)
DVD
- Pleasure diving: level 1© FFESSM and Image'In – Technical adviser and underwater photography – 2002, 2004.
- Pleasure diving: level 2© FFESSM and Image'In – Technical adviser and underwater photography – 2002, 2004.
TV documentaries
- 2011, co-auteur avec Pierre-François Martin-Laval (acteur, réalisateur) de l’émission Never Without My Finsproduced by Bonne Pioche. 52-minute documentary made in Polynesia and broadcast on Sunday November 27, 2012 on France 2 at 4:20 p.m.
ISAN number: 0000-0002-FFAE-0000-N-0000-0000-5 - Albert Falco, The Oceanaute, directed by Sylvain Braun, 2011 (TV5 Canada, Ushuaïa TV, Martinique Première, France 3, IRIB, Léman Bleu), Lato Sensus Production
Conferences
- Les modèles de désaturation : modèles, jeux de paramètres, M-Values, GF, ordinateurs. FFESSM 29, Île de Batz, 3 février 2024.
- Les facteurs de gradient (GF) en plongée à l’air, FFESSM 67, Strasbourg, Faculté de Médecine, 20 janvier 2024
- Computers, Sc, M-Values and Gradient Factors, Diving Show, 2022
- Computers, Sc, M-Values and Gradient Factors, Pleasure Diving Amphitheater (e-learning), 2021
- Pedagogy at 2edegree, Pleasure Diving Amphitheater (e-learning), 2021
- Retraining of diving instructors, full day, Pleasure Diving Amphitheater (e-learning), 2021
- Teaching diving: Operational knowledge, Pleasure Diving Amphitheater (e-learning), 2021
- Environment: The great balances, Pleasure Diving Amphitheater (e-learning), 2021
- Dive computers: capacities and limits, Pleasure Diving Amphitheater (e-learning), 2021, Plongez magazine!
- Teaching diving: What place for physical laws, Pleasure Diving Amphitheater (e-learning), 2020
- Teaching diving: Competency-based approach (APC), 11eforum for diving executives, School of Civil Security Application, Valabre, 2015
- Recreational diving in the world,Antibes, 2014 (invited by Alex Pollino)
- Biography of Albert Falco, Diving Show, January 2012
- Beauty, the pachyderm and the butterfly, a history of diving, Touraine Diving Club (Center), December 2011
- Beauty, the pachyderm and the butterfly, a history of diving through the centuries, Aquarium Mare Nostrum (Montpellier), 2010, with exhibition lasting one month
- Haldane, creator of the decompression tables, CMAS.CH monitors seminar, Neuchâtel, Switzerland, 2009.
- Haldane, creator of the decompression tables, Diving Show, 2009
- A history of diving, Sanary-sur-mer, in collaboration with Pierre Martin-Razi, 2007
- A history of diving, Aquarium du Trocadéro in collaboration with Pierre Martin-Razi, 2007
- Transversal pedagogy, FFESSM Guadeloupe, 2009 (invitation André Fabregoul), 2016 (invitation Thierry Guilbault)
- Assessment and diving, Diving Show, 2009
- Diving education, Diving Show, Paris, 2007
- Diving education, FFESSM Corsica, 2004(invitation Jean Escales)
Radio and TV shows
Jacques Pradel- Europe 1 April 20, 2007
The book presentation showA history of divinge on Europe 1 with Jacques Pradel – Listen…
Arielle Cassim's program on RFI about the book - Ecouter…
Vivolta TV – The Pradel files, 2007
Thalassa, France 3, December 3, 2003, Special file Calypso in La Rochelle
Functions performed while diving
- Member of the French-speaking Society of Underwater and Hyperbaric Medicine and Physiology (since 2019)
- Advisor to the FFESSM Occitanie Regional Committee (since 2017)
- Secretary General of the National Union of Diving Instructors from 2014 to 2017
- Secretary General of the FFESSM between 2002 and 2009
- Representative of the FFESSM at the CMAS from 2004 to 2009
- Co-founder and signatory of the statutes of CMAS-Europe (Read)
- In charge of the CTN-FFESSM reference books from 2001 to 2005
- Deputy Chairman of the FFESSM Pyrénées-Méditerranée Committee from 2005 to 2009
- President of the FFESSM departmental committee of Hérault from 1998 to 2005
Honors
- FFESSM Gold Medal
- Medal for the 60th anniversary of the FFESSM
- Medal of theRussian Underwater Activities Confederation(CRASA). Medal No. 154.
Biography
- Member of the Society of Men of Letters (SGDL)
- Biography on the website of the National Library of France (BNF):Click here.
- ISNI:0000 0000 0152 3672
- WorldCat Identities – viaf-7559520
Pablo TORRES
Pablo TORRES is co-author (photography) of the booksDiving for Pleasurefrom their origin.
Born in Spain, Pablo TORRES was passionate about photography from the age of 10. Assigned to the Spanish Navy in Menorca, he rubbed shoulders with "heavy-foot" divers there from the 1950s. Settled in France in 1957, he scuba-dived in the late 1960s, before joining one of the first clubs in Montpellier in the early 1970s: “The subaquatic”.
Federal Instructor 1st degree (MF 1), International CMAS 2* Instructor and Photo Trainer within the FFESSM, Pablo TORRES is passionate about underwater images (photo, video): several times rewarded, sometimes organizer of competitions, d he other times on the jury, he was vice-president of the FFESSM Pyrénées-Méditerranée audiovisual commission and President of the Hérault audiovisual commission.
When not travelling, he divides his time between Montpellier, where he lives, and Estartit in Spain.
Pierre DUNAC
Pierre DUNAC is a lawyer, diving and apnea instructor, president of the FFESSM Pyrénées-Méditerranée committee. He was also president of the national legal commission and of the federal council of appeal of the FFESSM for 8 years. Pierre DUNAC collaborated onPleasure Diving Memento Regulations.
Pascal ENJALBERT
Professor of EPS, BEES1 and MF2 diving, regional instructor FFESSM Pyrénées-Méditerranée, Pascal ENJALBERT has specialized in children's diving for many years, whether within his club, in schools or with federal authorities. In particular, he was referent of children's diving with the CTN-FFESSM from 2001 to 2008 and at the origin of the FFESSM training content, as well as a member of the organizing committee of RIPE (1994-2008) and Bulles Party (since 2008). In 2006, he created the Challenge Oxyjeunes-Plongée, which remains to this day the largest gathering of young divers in France. He is the author of the book “Practical guide for children's diving”. In the seriesDiving for Pleasure, he is co-author ofPleasure Diving Memento Children.
Pascal Enjalbert website:Click here.
GAP editions
Located in Challes-les-Eaux, directed by Olivier PAJEAN, the GAP editions have accompanied Plongée Plaisir books since their origin in 1999. The GAP editions today occupy the first place in France for diving publications.