Since
he was a kid, Gary Young, 2009 ‘X’ Games BMX Freestyle Bronze Medalist,
has been defying gravity, hanging in the air twisting and turning on his
bike. Now he is taking his love of extreme activities down under the sea.
“Snorkeling
was really like the gateway for me to get into diving.” said Young,
26. “I started snorkeling a few years ago and it really sparked my interest.
I learned about sea life and hanging out under water was a new thing
for me. It’s always been something I’ve been interested in but I didn’t really
get hooked until I went snorkeling.”
Young
has started his diving certification through PADI (Professional Association
of Diving Instructors). When he first expressed interest about diving
to a friend he discovered that his friend’s girlfriend and her father both worked
for PADI.
“I
was talking to him about getting into diving and he said his girlfriend had been
trying to get him into diving for a while but he’d been scared,” said Young.
“And I said let’s do it together. One thing led to another and now we’re
on our way into diving.”
Young
began his diving training with PADI’s eLearning. PADI eLearning courses
allow beginners to complete the classroom portion of certification at their
own pace, whenever or wherever it’s convenient for them. The eLearning
system consists of interactive presentations that include videos, audio,
graphics and reading, and is available in seven languages.
Since
Young lives in southern California,
he was able to go to PADI’s head office
for his confined water dives. This is followed by two open water dives and
completion of his diving certification.
Another
reason Young chose PADI certification was because he found when he
did some research that PADI certification was accepted worldwide. This was
important to him because Young travels a lot. The BMX circuit takes him all
over the world, including some of the best diving places like Thailand, Singapore, New Zealand and Australia. PADI has over 5300 dive
shop and resort members worldwide.
Although
Young spends most of his days on the road practicing and competing
on his bike, perfecting his killer tabletops and 360s, he’ll be taking sometime
to check out the local marine life.
“I’ve been to so many places and now I’ll have
the opportunity to go out and see
what is underwater and check out the reefs and wreck ,” said Young. “Diving seems so cool to me.”
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By: zdptbhtqaxw () on 29-12-2009 13:52