Why Aren't There Scuba Celebrities?

[boulderjohn]

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.

I have no idea who is famous in sports like wing suit, base jumping, climbing, or badminton. Not a clue. I don't participate in those activities, and I don't read about them. In terms of audience appeal, stock car racing is one of the most popular sports in America, and I know many people idolize its stars, but I have no interest in it and only know the names of people who do something crazy enough to make national news, like running over a competitor.

On the other hand, I know a lot of what I consider to be big names in scuba. I am very happy to have met and dived with some of them. I admire their accomplishments the way people in those other sports admire the accomplishments of their stars.

As far as being sponsored goes, you can bet that some of them are sponsored and pay very little, if anything, for the equipment they use. Even a nobody like me gets very good deals on equipment because I am an instructor and vendors want students to see me in their gear.

 

[agilis]

Leni Riefenstahl, Silvia Earle, and so many others

 

[covediver]

Leni Riefenstahl, Silvia Earle, and so many others

I think celebrity requires a certain amount of shameless self promotion, so I think celebrity is somewhat limited. Earle and Giddings do come to mind.

 

[Scubagolf]

A certain amount of "celebrity" attaches to the "stars", for want of a better term, of TV series. "Deep Sea Detectives" with John Chatterton and Richie Kohler ran for about 50 episodes on the History Channel, and they were two of the key players in "Shadow Divers." Both have been on other TV documentaries, as well.

 

[ajduplessis]

Then there is also those who think they are celebs or diving heros, just follow the current DCS deep stop thread......

 

[RJP]

Why aren't there scuba celebrities?

Better question...

Why on Earth would anyone expect that their should be any scuba celebrities?


---------- Post added December 24th, 2014 at 03:21 PM ----------

As far as being sponsored goes, you can bet that some of them are sponsored and pay very little, if anything, for the equipment they use. Even a nobody like me gets very good deals on equipment because I am an instructor and vendors want students to see me in their gear.

Getting "a deal" is not the same as "sponsorship." A sponsor PAYS you to wear/endorse their stuff.

---------- Post added December 24th, 2014 at 03:16 PM ----------

I think celebrity requires a certain amount of shameless self promotion, so I think celebrity is somewhat limited.

A celebrity is someone who is famous for being well known.

---------- Post added December 24th, 2014 at 03:20 PM ----------

Uh...

Cousteau?

So.... We have one....

one.

And his high-point was 50 or so years ago. Bit of a dry spell since then,

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

The only "celebrity" for anything scuba related was Seahunt with Lloyd Bridges. Even though Mike Nelson was a fictitious character the persona was "celebritized", that's the closest we as a diving community have come to having our own "hero" in mainstream media even though many aspects of the show were a bit hokey. But, it did get a lot of youngsters interested in scuba and diving, which is more than I can say for anything these days which amounts to zero.
I don't necessarily count Cousteau since it was more of a scientific based show (well it was to me but I'm considering the average TV watcher, not another diver)
Maybe the show "Ball Hogs" will spark some interest? Somehow I doubt it.

 

[RJP]

The only "celebrity" for anything scuba related was...

Being a celebrity diver is like being the tallest midget...

 

[pasley]

Every sport has pros that represent the pinnacle of their sport, and something for practitioners to admire and strive towards.....
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?

Is it a sport? Excellent question. I suppose it depends on your definition. Many definitions of sport include terms like:
1. competitive physical activity.
2. casual or organized participation.
3. aim to use, maintain or improve physical ability and skills while providing entertainment to participants.

SCUBA is not designed to be (nor should it) a completive sport. Do we have formal rules? Not really, there are no 20 foot penalties for holding etc. There is Darwin cleaning out the gene pool of those who ignore the guidelines or "rules" of SCUBA (don't hold your breath, observe NDL, ascend slowly etc).

Without a way to keep score there is no way to develop a hero's of SCUBA like Jim Thorpe, Babe Ruth, Lou Gering etc. So that leaves us only with the pioneers of the sport.

So is it a sport? I neither know or care. I know I enjoy looking at the pretty fish, the improved physical fitness I have from lifting the gear and moving slowly through the water. For me, that is enough.

 

[CT-Rich]

I would say that it would be easier to have a celebrity promote scuba than to have scuba make a celebrity. Koehler and Chatterton are a examples of how far a diver might be able to go in becoming a celebrity. Not far. On the other hand, celebrity is a self-fulfilling prophesy. Actors hire publicists to make sure people care about them. Taylor Swift goes to the gym and there is an army of photographers taking pictures. They are not there by accident. Lloyd Bridges is associated with diving because he was an actor cast as a diver. Jessica Alba was actress that scuba dove for a TV show.

The problem with making TV shows or movies centered around diving are that doing any show on the water is a dicey proposition. Filming is based on conditions beyond the control of crew. Storms, tides, currents and sinus infections can all derail production, not to mention the cost of cameras, lights, equipment and lets not forget the cost of insuring talent involved in the production.

Sea Hunt used a lot of stock footage and took advantage an unsophisticated viewership. Videos made today would need high production values, so filming lots of scenes in swimming pools and aquaria would not cut it. GoPro and YouTube might make some viral scuba celebrities as talented diver/cinematographers start finding a voice. It is much more likely that a TV production, (like Sea Hunt) would make the next household name in scuba and not the next great spear fisher. Maybe they can have "Celebrity Bug Divers" where we get to see Reese Witherspoon join Morgan Freeman Lobster diving on a ship wreck off Cape Ann. The closing scene would end with them having Gordon Ramsey cooking their catch for them*.

*Disclaimer: I know nothing about TV cooking shows, whether Witherspoon or Freeman scuba dive or have shellfish allergies.....