The lines aren't meant for rough handling. You basically just make a 'ring' with two fingers around the rope and focus on diving. Many cave walls, particularly limestone, are easy to groove into. Thick, hard lines can cut their way through walls, which will mean your return trip could lead to the center of a wall.
You might like Submerged by Daniel Lenihan. It's written for laymen but accurately describes the training and preparation for cave diving, as well as their pioneering of underwater archaeology & work for the National Park Service.
Helps you understand why so many people die, how they die, and how even when people have written calm good-bye letters to their loved ones on their diving slate, below the math that shows they'll never make it out alive, they still end up ripping off their fingernails trying to claw their way through rock back to the surface.