Two scuba students earn sidemount certification
Max Kostyashkin ’17, a 5-day boarder from Miami Beach, and Josh Biggins ’17, a 7-day boarder from Palm Beach Gardens, completed their sidemount certifications at Blue Grotto this past weekend. Scuba student Patrick Hales ’17, a 7-day boarder from the United Kingdom who is currently working on his Intro to Cave certification, also joined them on the dive for fun.
“Sidemount diving uses a different BCD and the tanks are worn on the sides of the diver as opposed to the back. Sidemount is a diving configuration that originally was used in cave diving applications to be able to get through smaller space,” said Scuba Instructor, Mr. Scott Davenport. “It has now become more popular with open water divers as it provides true redundancy and increased gas supply.”
Max, who has been a member of the Scuba program for a year and a half and has earned three certifications so far (Open Water, Advanced and Rescue), said,
“Starting Scuba at Farragut seemed like a natural thing to do because I have always loved being in the water and swimming. Since learning to Scuba, it has helped me improve my confidence because when you go underwater you depend on your buddy and your tank, so you need to always be calm and prepared for anything.”
