Why Aren't There Scuba Celebrities?

[Rich Keller]

Even if you consider this to be a sport it is not one sport but many. You know only the people who are prominent in the areas you are interested in pursuing. For me it would be Bob Kirby, Bev Morgan, Ben Miller and Joe Savoie.

 

[Rich Keller]

Even if you consider this to be a sport it is not one sport but many. You know only the people who are prominent in the areas you are interested in pursuing. For me it would be Bob Kirby, Bev Morgan, Ben Miller and Joe Savoie.

 

[Searcaigh]

Surprised nobody has mentioned Hans and Lotte Hass yet, unless I missed it while reading the other posts.

 

[DivemasterDennis]

There are scuba legends, for sure, starting with Cousteau, father and son, but also people like Lloyd Bridges, Zale Perry, Stan Waterman, Ralph Wilbanks, and Mel Fischer. Do some research, google a few names. There are also some "nortorious" scuba divers, but that's another thread.
DivemasterDennis

 

[divad]

Celebrity is created and maintained by assholes
Most scuba divers are not assholes
There aren't any celebrity scuba divers

 

[scubadada]

Every sport has pros that represent the pinnacle of their sport, and something for practitioners to admire and strive towards. Tiger Woods, Michael Jordan, Federer, etc. Even more fringe sports like wing suit, base jumping, climbing, badminton, whatever, have sponsored athletes that people admire and want to be like.

So what's different about scuba? Sure, there are a handful of famous divers who pioneered fields like cave diving, but nothing remotely similar to other sports. You don't have videos with millions of views on youtube, with amateurs going, "Wow, look how good his finning and buoyancy are!"

Is it because scuba isn't really a sport, in that there is no clear gauge of skill? Because the majority of divers aren't interested in the skill aspect of it, and just the pretty fish?

There are celebrities but they are local and not widely known. These are the folks that really know the dive areas like the back of their hand. They are very skillful and can help a visitor really have a great dive

 

[NAM001]

Being of the PHIN i love that comment

One problem SCUBA is kind of like submarine racing kind of hard to watch.

 

[Zeagle Eagle]

Scuba diving is like soccer. It's not really a sport.

 

[scubadada]

Scuba diving is like soccer. It's not really a sport.

Soccer is not a sport, with celebrities???

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

The only current divers, and some don't even consider them to be "real" divers because there isn't a S.C.U.B.A. involved, are freedivers that hold the most extreme current depth records. But even that gets no press because it's yawn boring to most people who know nothing about diving.
So in their microscopic little world of freediving they are considered "celebrities" by their peers.
Part of the thing with scuba is anybody these days that would look/act/do the same things that were glorified back in the days of Seahunt and Thunderball would be ridiculed and slammed for being "unsafe" and "too macho".
Simply put, there's nothing about scuba these days that's controversial/dangerous/exciting to view by others/trashy/sexy enough to be a spectacle to the average couch potato.
No viewers no celebrity.