Jacques Cousteau: He Wanted to Breathe Underwater… So He Helped Invent a Way

After a bad car accident, a young navy officer swam in the sea to get well.

A friend gave him goggles, and he saw a new world.

This is the story of Jacques Cousteau.

Welcome to brightlivesenglish.com, where we teach real English using real-life stories.

Underwater. Underwater means below the surface of the water.

For the first time, he could see clearly underwater.

Dive. To dive is to go down under the water.

With two friends, he dived to hunt fish.

Breathe. To breathe is to take air into your body and let it out again.

They always had to come up to breathe.

Tank. A tank is a metal container for a liquid or a gas.

He carried tanks of air on his back.

Coral. Coral is a hard, colourful material made by tiny sea animals.

It grows in warm seas.

He filmed coral reefs in the Red Sea.

Now, one pattern: for the first time.

We use it when something happens that has never happened before.

For the first time, he swam like a fish.

Ready? Let's begin.

Jacques Cousteau was born in France in 1910.

He was often sick as a child, and swimming helped him.

At 13, he bought a film camera and made little films.

In 1930, he joined the French Navy school.

He wanted to fly planes for the navy.

But in 1936, he had a bad car accident at night.

His arms were badly hurt, and his dream of flying was over.

To get well, he swam in the sea every day.

A friend gave him a pair of goggles.

He put his head under the water and looked.

Rocks, sea plants and silver fish!

For the first time, he could see clearly underwater.

From that day, he wanted to explore the sea.

With two friends, he dived to hunt fish.

But they could not stay down for long.

They always had to come up to breathe.

Could people breathe underwater, like fish?

During the war, he met an engineer, Émile Gagnan.

Gagnan had made a valve for car engines that burned gas, not petrol.

Together, they changed it into a valve for divers.

In June 1943, he tried it in the sea.

He carried tanks of air on his back, and the valve gave him air each time he breathed in.

For the first time, he swam like a fish.

He later wrote, "Now I flew without wings."

They made hundreds of test dives.

They called their invention the Aqua-Lung.

It helped to make diving easy and safe enough for many people.

In 1950, he got a ship called Calypso, and he sailed to warm seas.

He filmed coral reefs in the Red Sea.

His film, "The Silent World", won the main prize at the Cannes Film Festival in 1956, and an Oscar too.

Later, millions of people watched his TV programmes.

For the first time, many of them saw life under the sea.

He also warned that the oceans needed protecting.

He died in 1997.

Let's review. For the first time, he could see clearly underwater.

With two friends, he dived to hunt fish.

They always had to come up to breathe.

He carried tanks of air on his back.

He filmed coral reefs in the Red Sea.

And remember: for the first time, he swam like a fish.

Jacques Cousteau's story teaches us: when one door closes, a whole new world can open.

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