Biography
Craig Challen is an Australian cave diver and retired veterinarian. He trained in veterinary science at Murdoch University and co-founded the Vetwest group of animal hospitals in Perth before retiring in 2017.
Challen learned cave diving in 1997 and has undertaken record-setting dives in Australia, New Zealand and elsewhere. He is best known for his role, alongside Richard Harris, in the 2018 Tham Luang cave rescue in Thailand, in which 12 boys and their coach were successfully extracted from a flooded cave system. He appears as himself in the 2021 documentary The Rescue.
Challen received the Star of Courage and the Medal of the Order of Australia for his part in the rescue, and was joint Australian of the Year in 2019.
