University Daily Kansan / Friday, April 13, 1990
Lifestyle
9
Midwest Scuba Diving
During the past decade, the underwater sport has emigrated from oceans to Midwest fresh-water lakes.
Story by Ines Shuk Photos by Julie James
Mike Sabatino, St. Louis senior, left, and Mike Miller are among the KU scuba diving class members going diving at For Scuba Only near Baldwin.
Think about scuba diving. Now think about scuba diving in the Midwest. Yes, in the Midwest.
KANSAN
Every year, thousands of Midwesterners become certified scuba divers and in the past two decades, the number of dives in the region abruptly has increased.
Furthermore, divers are showing more interest in Midwestern diving sites because they can experience unusual underwater events such as fresh-water lakes and quarries.
Warren Sullivan, owner of For Scuba Only, a diving spot in a quarry near Baldwin, said there were at least five dive shops in the area. The county's certified between 200 and 600 people a year.
Sullivan said the growing number of certifications indicated that scuba diving was becoming more popular in the Midwest, most notably as a professional and recreational sport.
"It was a closed door in the Midwest, but now it's opening," he said.
Diving: A 40 minute journey
Sullivan's business opened in August 1989 and was specially set up for dive shops that needed a quarry for student certification courses. The quarry is close and affordable area to dive, he said.
During weekends, about 30 people visit Sullivan's quarry. However, he said professional divers didn't really know about the place because he was promoting it much more.
"The market is there if the word gets out," he said.
Jim Marshall, owner of The Dive Shop, in Merriam, said he opened the shop about 20 years ago, when there was only one other dive shop in the Kansas City area.
Marshall said he was certifying four to five times more people than 10 years ago. "The sport is exciting," Marshall said. "People like to dive as a complementary activity when they go fishing, water skiing or to do any other water sport."
Scuba diving also has gained popularity because the minimum age required for a lifetime certification is 12. Marshall said it usually stopped diving about retirement age.
Paul Winter, a scuba diving instructor at Marshall's shop, said an old lead mine underneath the town of Bonne Terre, Mo., was their favorite diving sites for Midwesterners.
The mine, one hour south of St. Louis, was abandoned in the 1960s and later filled with water from natural springs. It has artificial ceiling lights that allow divers to follow different trails. A guide always accompanies the divers.
Marshell said some of the most popular diving places in the Midwest were Beaver, Table Rock and Norfolk lakes 'n' northern areas. The tablefull dave-living operations were provided.
Winter, who learned to scuba dive about 20 years ago at the University of Kansas, said the trend in the Midwest was more toward recreational scuba diving.
"People are starting to accept the Midwest more as a diving area." said Winter, who has dived more in the Midwest than in the ocean.
Scuba-diving students
Winter, who teaches the introductory and advanced scuba classes at KU, said he had noticed an increase in enrollment during the past decade.
In the introductory class, students get certified for recreational diving. In the advanced class, they are exposed to different types of underwater photography and recovery and underwater photography.
Scott Ellsworth, Wichita junior, one of
Winter's students in the introductory scuba diving class, said that becoming a certified diver wasn't hard, especially if one felt comfortable in the water.
"There's no need to be a good swimmer," he said. The divers wear inflatable vests but still can go to the bottom because of the heavy equipment.
'The sport is exciting. People like to dive as a complementary activity when they go fishing, water skiing or to do any other water sport.'
— Jim Marshall Dive Shop owner
Ellsworth said he took the class because he was a recreation major and was interested in learning about the recreational aspects of the photo. He is interested in underwater photography.
Misti Keys, Russell senior, said she and her roommate joined the class because they wanted to go diving at beaches after graduation and because they were looking for fun.
Keys said she felt confident when diving throughout the course but got scared once during a swimming-pool session while practicing buddy breathing with her roommate.
"She freaked out and went to the surface, leaving me at the bottom of the pool without oxygen," Keys said.
Mike Miller, Wichita senior, said that he enrolled in the class because his father and a good friend already were certified and that he wanted to go diving with them.
Miller said he paid about $250 for the course, including mask, snorkel, fins, tank and regulator rentals, open water check-out
and certification
"I thought it was a pretty reasonable price," Miller said. "It could have been more expensive if I wanted to own more gear."
Miller's dive buddy, Mike Sabatino, St. Louis senior, said he enrolled in the class because he wanted to refresh his certification, which he earned three years ago.
He has scuba dived in Florida, California and Norfolk Lake, Ark., he said.
Sabatino said there were no specific qualifications for the event
"You just need to have the desire to try something new," he said.
First open dive check-out
Ellsworth, Keys, Miller and Sabatino were among a group of 40 KU students who went for their first open-dive check-out last weekend in Sullivan's For Scuba Only. The group dived a half day Saturday and a half day Sunday.
Keys said that during her last dive, she momentarily lost her buddy and her instructor. She clung to a sunken boat about 20 feet deaw and waited for them to find her.
Because visibility was limited, Keys said,
she was found because of the black-and-white
checked hood she was wearing.
Miller said the check-out was difficult because he had to hold on to his partner all the time so he wouldn't lose him in the poor-visibility area.
Students also can become certified divers by taking classes offered year-round at most dive shops. The courses range from eight to 10 weeks and cost from $300 to $600, depending on what is included.
Sabatino said that he had experienced no problems during check-out and that he was looking forward to joining the advanced scuba class.
Once the course and mandatory check-out are completed, the new diver is certified by the Professional Association of Dive Instructors and the National Association of Underwater Instructors.
KANSAN
Mike Miller, Wichita senior, anticipates his open dive at For Scuba Only.
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