There are a whole lot of things down under the water, and this motivates many people to try to observe them. One way to see the great seas is to spend your day at the beach. Unfortunately, a person would die if they were to look underwater for more than three minutes because, well, you would drown. One such person that can (technically) breathe underwater is CHS senior Maddie Sanvictores, a certified scuba diver. She can hop on a boat, put on her gear, and jump right into the water. However, it is not that simple.
Sanvictores first got into scuba diving because of her father. His love for his hobby made him relay it to Sanvictores.
“My dad first introduced me to scuba diving since he had been doing it for a while,” Sanvictores said. “It was something he really enjoyed.”
During her certification process, Sanvictores took some weeks of her summer to complete classes, course quizzes, and written exams so she could go to a pool with an instructor in a class to actually learn how to dive. Getting in and out of all that gear for each lesson was slightly irking but was nothing compared to the other difficulties of the certification process. After the classes in the pool, Sanvictores needed to complete four open water dives over the course of four days into the high seas to be certified by the Professional Association of Diving Instructors. Once and for all, she was certified to go scuba into the ocean with her father and explore.
“I enjoy it because when you’re underwater it’s like you’ve entered an entirely different world,” Sanvictores said. “Like something out of a movie or book.”
Her motivation seems to stem from her fascination of the underwater world. Even so, she is not dauntless. One of her fears is getting trapped under a rock for so long and running out of oxygen.
“Another fear I have is that I‘ll somehow end up stuck on the ocean floor with a bunch of sharks. The film 47 Meters Down inspired that fear,” Sanvictores said. “While there is always a chance for something to go wrong, there’s a higher chance of being hit by a car than being eaten by a shark.”
However, her fears do not affect her love for the ocean, and they do not taint the fun she has. During one dive, she and her father were around 30 meters down when they heard a lone whale singing. Sanvictores hopes to eventually cave dive, as she says she does not have enough experience underwater at the moment. Scuba diving sounds like an unbelievable escape from reality! After all, 71% of the earth is covered with ocean water, so it really is another world down there.