Underwater with a bunch of Boy Scouts

Tara

Some people don’t travel by airplane because they say, ‘If God wanted me to fly, he would have given me wings.’

I’ve heard similar comments about scuba diving and gills.

Something so unnatural can be very hard to overcome, but it can definitely be worth it.

I never expected how hard those first breaths would be when I slowly let myself sink into the Spartanburg YMCA pool donning my scuba attire about a month ago.

I was grouped with 11 teenage Boy Scouts for my scuba certification training. Luckily, the understanding and knowledgeable staff at Spartanburg’s Scuba Shop had all the patience they needed to deal not only with the endless energy of the teens as well as the uneasiness of a grown adult.

It took every ounce of will power I had to stay under that water. The thought that kept crossing my mind and kept me breathing underwater was that I had told EVERYONE I was taking the class. Everyone at work. Everyone on the EMS Dive Team. Everyone in my family. And everyone of my friends.

I couldn’t bear the humiliation and endless ribbing I would receive if I failed the first night — in a controlled environment like a swimming pool at that!

So I stayed there. Breathing like a fish. And nearly hyperventilating.

For those of you who have never been scuba diving, they strap you up to this air tank using what seems like a very complicated strapping system and give you a mouthpiece (similar to what football players wear to protect their teeth) and tell you to breath.

That’s it.

Never stop breathing and don’t hold your breath. Those are the cardinal rules to diving.

Sounds simple, until I was sitting on the bottom of a pool breathing and thinking about how I was so far away from that wonderful oxygen I am so used to.

But after freaking out for a few minutes as all the Boy Scouts calmly sat there, I consciously told myself to breath deeply. And to exhale completely. Focusing on my breathing was the best medicine because I finally began to calm down.

Once we began swimming with our fins (which are nearly impossible to walk in), I began to understand how enjoyable scuba diving can be.

Then came the skills.

Apparently there is more to diving than just breathing and swimming.

I did fine with taking out the regulator (football mouth guard thing that provides oxygen) and retrieving it. I even did OK with the emergency breathing techniques for when, hypothetically, you run out of air.

What made me wonder if I would ever pass my certification test (which is given 30 feet underwater at Lake Jocassee) was when they made me completely remove my face mask and put it back on, and then clear the water from inside the mask.

Who in their right mind would do that underwater?!?!

Of course, we had to prepare for the unexpected.

What was unexpected — and a true test of my ability to stay calm in a dangerous situation — came the following weekend while we were diving at Lake Jocassee.

I was descending the rope to the platform at 30 feet to perform my newly learned skills when my weight belt began to fall off. Now those of you unfamiliar with buoyancy and water may not feel that’s so bad. Wearing a wet suit makes you much more buoyant (or floatable) and those weights are necessary to keep you from shooting to the surface, which can cause the “bends” or your lungs to explode.

Anyway, my weight belt came off, and there I was hanging on to the rope with my finned feet floating towards the surface.

It was a little bit awkward.

Luckily those wonderful instructors and my classmates helped me weight myself down again, just in time to perform my mask removal skill.

This may sound like a lot of work and not much fun, but as soon as we were finished with our skills, we were allowed to swim freely with the fish and explore some of the goodies left behind for scuba divers.

We played basketball with a bowling ball and hoop set up 30 feet underwater. We tried to attract the fish by waving our fingers around. We explored nooks and crannies in places the average person has never seen.

Scuba diving is one of the most amazing opportunities to see another world. And I am very glad I was able to overcome my “earthly” fears and breath underwater long enough to enjoy it.

Thank you to the wonderful staff at The Scuba Shop for introducing me to this new world!

Jennings

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