Total (#19) Club Members
Three men – Glenn Orr, Jack Prodanovich and Ben Stone – started the Bottom Scratchers, an invitation-only group
of watermen who became the founding fathers of free diving.
Glenn Orr and Jack Prodanovich started diving in 1932 off sunset cliffs in San Diego California with a pair
of long distance swimming goggles Glen had acquired. They had to share the goggles because Glen only had one
pair. One would hang on the floating inner-tub while the other dove for abalone. The goggles had uneven lenses
so Jack had to close one eye to get a clear view but the goggles allowed underwater vision to hunt and gather.
Jack began building and improving with a variety of new goggle ideas for underwater hunting. Eventually masks and
snorkels evolved for advanced underwater hunting.
The Bottomscratchers dive club was formed around a group of friends sharing their catch for an afternoon barbeque
after a day of diving. The 1930’s were the great depression years and quality food was hard to come by.
