Lloyd Godson — Marine biologist, Aquanaut and Adventurer
He is a little bit crazy. This doesn't just refer to his wild, 'mad scientist' head of hair, but more so to his bold endeavours. The Australian Lloyd Godson is not your typical scientist. The marine biologist and diver is bubbling over with a sense of adventure and exciting ideas. For example, the 32-year-old Godson wants to prove that humans can also live for long periods of time under wate
Lloyd Godson studied marine biology in Australia, Canada and New Zealand. Even while studying he was developing his dream of living under water. When talking about the feedback he often received whenever he told people about his idea, Lloyd says that most of them said "That won't work." Nevertheless, somehow he has always managed to achieve whatever he has set his mind to — thanks to his many good ideas, perseverance and the ability to drum up the right people.
In the "Wildest Adventure Competition" in 2005 he succeeded in convincing the Australian Geographic about the merits of his BioSUB project, which led to him diving down to inhabit an underwater house for the very first time. Thousands of people worldwide followed his progress over the internet. For this project the Australian Geographic named him "Adventurer of the Year".
Since 2008 Lloyd has been living in Greece with his German-Greek wife, Carolina Sarassitis. He has a very personal connection to Germany because his grandmother-in-law lives in Swabian Balingen and is an important person in his life. Her visit during the Guinness World Records™ attempt has been firmly scheduled, and as encouragement she has promised to bring along his favourite dish, potato salad.
How does Lloyd manage it all?
Lloyd is a real bundle of energy and rarely takes time off. The underwater house, an Antarctic expedition, ultra-marathon running — he is constantly having new and exciting ideas about what he would like to do. In all of his endeavours Lloyd combines a fascinating mix of science, technology, adventure and lots of fun. He explains his projects with great enthusiasm to anyone interested. He is especially pleased when he can inspire young people and bring them a little closer to the underwater environment. For this reason Lloyd is always gladly involved with innovative school projects. His most recent project was in Greece following a teaching assignment at the University of Athens. The aim of the project was to bring the children closer to the idea of protecting the Mediterranean Sea and its inhabitants.
Being involved in so many projects means that he has to keep in shape. Lloyd does this by running marathons. Not only does this satisfy his thirst for being active, but he is also preparing himself in the best possible way for his projects in which he puts himself in extreme situations time and again. "One week before the LEGOLAND ATLANIS project I'll be running the marathon in Rome so that my desire to run won't be quite as strong in my underwater house," says a hopeful Lloyd.
But this doesn't satisfy Lloyd by a long shot. He has intensified his running training for his next crazy project. Instead of just running marathons, he is now also running ultra-trail marathons. These are runs covering extremely long distances. With its 166 km at an altitude of 9,500 meters, the Mont Blanc Ultratrail Race in August 2010 is already on his list. What he develops in endurance in this race he will be putting right into his Life Amphibious project, which is a new type of underwater propulsion.
It certainly won't hurt either if Lloyd is in top form for the Guinness World Records™ attempt in LEGOLAND ATLANTIS. He will need to pedal for several hours a day to pedal up the largest amount of electricity that has ever been generated under water.
