DA Aquamaster - yeah your right, I hope they have learned from this experience, and I know they have. I spoke with one of the team members off line who was also military, and he felt things could have been better had they been better prepared better equipted but whats done is done. I come from a long line of military and in the work I do and the perosonnel I work with we pay special attention to detail cause there is no room for mistakes or incompetense in what we do.....my brothers lives are at stake.
Drowning at Lake Rawlings
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Pirate7979
New
Yes I was the first swimmer to the man yelling for help (turns out he was the engaged to the diver that drowned). I just wish the out come had been better. We'll be back out again soon, but with an even greater eye on safety in the back of my head. It can all go wrong so quickly, sometimes in the excitement that can get lost, but it can all happen in just a few short minutes. We'll probably see you around, My name is Amy by the way. Safe diving.
My sincerest condolences for family and friends.
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My thoughts and prayers are with the fiance, the families and all those involved with the rescue attempt and recovery.
It must be the most unpleasant task and I hope they find appropriate people to talk with afterwards.
It must be the most unpleasant task and I hope they find appropriate people to talk with afterwards.
diver 85
Contributor
Why???.....is my question to your 1st statement..My 1st 40 dives or so after OW certification(in 1985) was either with my daughter, age 14, or my wife--all 3 of us certified together--- in Toledo Bend Reservoir......I often wonder about today's teaching in Scuba, is it really enough or do they just 'sniff' you by it.......Speaking for the 3 of us, we were confident and sure of ourselves in our newly aquired sport........
So sorry for this accident, my thoughts are in the training these individuals had- or did not have.....remember, we're all certified divers after receiving the Card......
Wopsushi, Pirate Thanks for your efforts. It is tragic when we, the diving community lose a friend and a fellow diver, and I know her fiancee is hurting so let's all offer support to him and her family. This issue is still under investigation and has adversly affected many who spend time at Rawlings. Friday night was a somber one and it makes us all remember why we do our best to train divers to be the best they can be. Yes practice, practice, practice is nice and is coulda shoulda woulda... Until a tragic event like this happens we don't know what we will do unless you have been in that situation. Wopsushi, Amy, you are special and went the distance...Thanks!. I've been there too and my story with a diver, by the grace of God, had a happy ending off of Va Beach in 2005. No blaming or speculation is warrented, let the diving community learn from this and hopefully we all will be better for this. My prayers go out to her, her fiancee, and their families. Wopsushi I'm glad you dive with us in NC. Thanks to all who helped out in this!
Graeme Tolton
Contributor
We have to remember that every new diver is different in their comfort/skill level. No matter who the instructor is, some new divers are more comfortable than others. When I got my Open water certification, I was 15 yo, but I had already been snorkelling for 5+ years. I was just as comfortable in the water as out of the water. There are some times where I think that it should be up to the instructor at the end of a course, if someone still seems uncomfortable, to take them aside and suggest that they do their first dives as newly certified divers with the club that they have done their certification with. (Or other more experienced divers)
I am just saying that there are some certified divers who should not be diving with divers who possess the same/less than the experience as them.
I was on a dive boat last weekend in Tobermory, ON. The two divers next to me, I was chatting with them about their experience. He was a newly certified diver and his girlfriend/dive buddy had been diving a few years, but had not been in the water in 2 years. The first dive was a wreck (Niagara II), (55-100ft), very cold water (39 at 100 ft). This other couple was the first back on the boat. I was talking to them after, asking how much air they came up with. I had come up with 1000psi. The boyfriend said "I was pretty well empty"
I was by no means the most experienced diver on the boat, but no one else seemed to be paying any attention to what others were doing. I would hope that if I were the newb, others would be paying some attention to my safety.
This may be a little off topic, but I think is relevant.
Not all divers enter an OW course with the same skill sets. When I started divng I was already an accomplished skin diver, a certified life guard and a swim instructor. Adding scuba was a minor additional skill set to learn. I also had my own equipment had done some diving under a mentor prior to the course and when I left the course never had to deal with different rental gear on each new dive. The combination left me well ahead of the average OW diver. I was also 18, bullet proof and a confident pilot so lack of confidence was not feeding any already non existant tendency to panic.
On the other hand, many divers that are cranked out today can barely swim, would not pass the swim test without a wet suit and fins and are not comfortable or confident in the water. When everything goes right they get by ok, but when things start to go wrong that discomfort of being in the water and their apprehension about their abilities to deal with an emergency that lurk just beneath the surface quickly explodes into a full blown panic.
Its not the training that is inadequate, it is the selection criteria for who should be diving in the first place. BC's and other gear improvements have made diving a much less athletic sport that can be accessed by people with less physical conditioning. However it still requires a minimum level of proficiency and more importantly a minimum comfort level in the water.
That ultimately is the difference bewteen one diver with 5 total dives diving with another newby and being safe and comfortable in the water and another diver with 100 dives who still lacks an adequate comfort level in the water to dive with anyone other than a very skilled and experienced buddy. I'd argue though that if a diver has 25 or more dives and is still not comfortable in the water while diving, they need to take up another sport or seriosuly consider addresing the underlying issues holding them back.
For those that were there the day of the incident. What happend underwater if you were told. Unless I missed it from what I gather in these post something happened, 1 surfaced and 1 did not. Im asking this to learn from it.
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