The first magician I saw float linking rings was Victor Voitko. Was he the first or did others precede him?

What do you mean?
Send me a video please, and maybe I'll have the answer.

In Pete Biro's "Real Secrets of the Chinese Linking Rings", Levent writes that he developed a similar floating ring routine in the 1980s. He goes on to say that when he explained it to Lance Burton, Lance mentioned a European who was also doing a floating link/unlink. Levent has concluded this was likely Victor Voitko and that the two had more or less simultaneously arrived at the same effect with different operational details.

Thanks Dave!