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Last Updated: June 17, 2011

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Weather: Sydney 11°C - 18°C . Sunny.

Cave diver Agnes pushed the limits

Russell Robinson

From: Herald Sun

March 05, 2011 12:00AM

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Passionate: Agnes Milowka died in Tank Cave, "a spiderweb gone wild". Source: Supplied

ENTHUSIASTS refer to it as the Star Trek syndrome - the quest to go where no one has gone before.

In the subterranean world of cave diving, Agnes Milowka was a modern-day explorer.

Her domain was deep beneath the earth's surface, diving into dark, water-filled caves and sinkholes.

The 29-year-old Melbourne adventurer took her last dive on Sunday afternoon. She was exploring Tank Cave, near Mt Gambier, when she went missing.

The day before, she left her parents a telephone message telling them she was safe.

"She told us everything was all right and she'd be coming home on Sunday," Polish-born Christopher Milowka, 54, told the Herald Sun.

"She promised to come home, and when she promised something, she always delivered. That's the sort of person she was."

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But it wasn't to be.

The next communication the Milowkas received was from Boronia police telling them of their daughter's fate.

"There were times when we were really scared for her, but we couldn't say anything because it was something she really loved doing," Mr Milowka said.

Agnes was a prominent member of the international cave diving community. A keen photographer, she also worked as a stunt diver in the James Cameron blockbuster Sanctum. The movie, inspired by an actual event, centres on a group of divers trapped when a cyclone floods their cave.

Australian underwater explorer, photographer and film maker Andrew Wight was a co-writer on the film project.

He was also a friend of Agnes, and yesterday reflected on her life.

"Agnes died doing something she was passionate about, and when you're very passionate and willing to push hard, then you take on those risks," he said.

"It's all a bit numbing. But in reality it happens in all walks of life."

WIGHT agrees it was difficult for some people to appreciate why divers risk their lives.

"People who don't do it struggle to understand why. And the people who do do it struggle to explain why," he said.

"Agnes was an avid cave explorer. She was on top of her game. They're not adrenalin junkies, but people who have to be disciplined, organised and aware that they're going into an alien world.

"It's a world in which you have to take all your life support, and as such there is no direct escape back to the surface.

"You're totally reliant on your own resources and equipment to get back out safely. So, over the years there have been hard-won lessons learned and etched in the gravestones of those who haven't returned."

It's almost 12 months since Melbourne doctor Robert McAlister, 51, died in a sinkhole near Mt Schank, about 12km from Mt Gambier.

Tank Cave is Australia's longest underwater cavern. Agnes described it as a "spiderweb gone wild".

She was aware of the risks and in a recent radio interview said: "It would be difficult to claim that caves are completely safe."

Experienced divers this week spoke of their preference to explore in company. Agnes preferred to go solo.

"When you first learn how to dive it is drilled into you that you must dive in a buddy pair," she once said.

"But when you get to the point when you are exploring caves, that second person is the biggest liability and the most likely thing to kill you.

"You don't know what they're thinking, or feeling or what they are going to do, and you are in a dangerous and hostile environment.

"Sometimes the cave is small and tight and it's hard for one person to be in there squeezing through a little hole. Sometimes you can't see anything and there is zero visibility because of the silt.

"In that situation it is easier to be alone because you know where you are, what you are doing and what to do next.

"My personal preference is to dive solo, especially in caves."

Ian Taylor, a cave diver and instructor with nine years' experience, was also a friend of Agnes.

He describes it as a hobby, not a sport. He proposed to his wife in an underwater cave.

"Sport implies competition, and competition breeds machoism, and there's simply no place for that in cave diving," he said.

He says training and caution is essential to mitigate the risks.

STRESS levels are also tested, in all situations. Dealing with confined spaces is part of the intensive training, including what they call single-passage entry and exit.

"It's not for everybody," he says.

But Heike Apps, an instructor for 17 years, says cave diving is safer than jumping out of a plane.

"I drive from Canberra to Mt Gambier a few times a year. The chances of me dying in a motor vehicle accident are far, far greater," she said. "More people have died in a backyard pool than in a cave dive."

But she never takes risks. "There are some things I wouldn't do ... diving alone."

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