One of my scholarship goals is to become a better diver and develop new skills. That means I need to get out of my comfort zone. All of my diving experience has been in Mexican tropical and warm waters, so now it is time to broaden my horizons and try diving in new environments. Diving in a drysuit has been on my mind for a couple of years since I dived in Ensenada, Mexico and I experienced cold water diving for the first time. I loved the dive but knew I would have enjoyed it better if I wasn´t freezing for half of the dive, so I set my mind to one day learn how to use a drysuit. Now, the first official adventure of my scholarship year was to waste no time– and Drysuit training is on!
After a crazy week in New York, I visited my coordinator Anya in Rhode Island. My dive gear provided by Aqualung had arrived at her home and it was so much fun opening all the boxes, I felt like a child receiving gifts at Christmas. After the unboxing, I could not wait to try out my new gear and we headed to the University of Rhode Island pier for a dive. Just like that, I experienced my first scholarship and U.S. dive !
Then I traveled to the quiet town of Marion, MA, and was hosted by Vin Malkoski and his family. It was nice to have some time to rest and process all of what had happened the week before. I started drysuit training with Vin and it was a whole adventure. My knowledge about drysuits was practically zero, and as I started to talk with other OWUSS members, I realized it was not as easy as I thought. There were some difficulties you can experience, like getting flooded or putting too much air into your suit and then floating to the surface… and I started to get a little nervous.
Luckily Vin is a great instructor and my first dive was in an easy and controlled environment– a lake (or as Vin likes to call it, “The Pond”). Getting in the suit was the hard part, but as I submerged it was easier. It was definitely a new sensation, but it was amazing! Dive after dive, I felt more comfortable, and after completing some skills and overcoming challenges like flooding and floatability, I was ready for the big step: the cold and murky waters of New England. Kim, Vin´s daughter, is the DSO of Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute and she invited me to dive from their pier. The dive was colder, deeper and darker than what I had experienced before, but I felt really confident and succeeded. I gained my Drysuit certification and at the same time I completed my 150th dive! Total success!
During my time with the Malkoskis I also completed my First Aid course. I learned how to react in a diving emergency, how to approach and assess an injured person, and how to act and provide the best treatment before EMS arrives at the scene. These skills are very useful and I feel more prepared for what to do in an emergency situation.
Have you heard about submarine races? Me neither, but when the Malkoskis invited me to join them, I happily accepted. We drove 10 hours and arrived in Maryland to attend The International Submarine Races. This is an event where high school and college students, who have built human-powered submarines (it takes them 2 years to do this), come to this event to test their designs and compete for the prize. The event is held in Carderock Naval Base, where there is a mile-long tank where the US Navy tests boats and submarines. It was impressive to be in it and even more to dive in it! I was part of the dive staff, and our duties were to coordinate all the diving activities and keep the divers safe. Easier said than done, when there are 10 teams and more than 100 divers, most of whom are newly certified just for this event! The races were very fun, and watching how teams overcome challenges was inspiring. I even got to experience the team Omer 13 breaking a new speed record.
I had never experienced an event like it. The sub races taught me how diving can be useful in different activities, even ones I am not familiar with. I learned about the challenges of coordinating diving operations and how working as team is crucial to overcome challenges.
Thank you to Our World Underwater Scholarship Society https://www.owuscholarship.org/ for this amazing opportunity. A big thank you to all my sponsors: Aqualung, Drysuits Unlimited International (DUI), Faith Ortins/Blue Green Expeditions, Fourth Element, and Backscatter for giving me the gear and tools I will need during my year.
