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thursday december is 137 tlie second section sports news district news scuba tanks feel almost weightless underwater but on dry ground its a different thing as this student finds but as well as carrying the heavy tank the student has to adjust to walking with flippers on diver at left has his head above the water aridas a result appears headless would- be diverstake the plunge tribune investigates underwater judy dell tries a front roll entry into the pi notice one hand holds the air tank to keep it from cracking her on the head by john montgomery its a spooky moment the first time you launch yourself into the pool defying all the laws of nature by breathing underwater you take a tentative loudly hissing breath and exhale a torrent of noisy bubbles cascade to the surface you become aware of your breathing not only because you find yourself breathing un derwater but also because the inhaling and exhaling constant loud noises are the only sounds you hear scuba self contained underwater breathing apparatus students were photographed recently by svend debruyn and myself at the coursesheld at uxpool in uxbridge the courses are fairly rigorous and the dropout rate is high to begin with a medical certificate is required and the student must be in reasonable physical condition or prepared to get him or herself into that con dition most scuba in structors require their students to be able to swim between is and 20 laps of the pool as a requirement for getting a diving certificate climbing out of the pool loaded down with diving gear proves a difficult task divers have to be in good shape as it is a rlgourous sport students are expected to be able to swim 16 lengths of the pool in 10 minutes by the end of the course photos by john montgomery and svend debruyn about an hour and the recently invented an tidote for the poison is almost impossible to obtain reassuringly though there are no poisonous creatures or plain vicious ones like sharks and barracudas in on tarios waters they cant survive in our icy lakes unfortunately nei ther can humans diving ontario usually requires use of awetsuiteven in summer as the tem perature variation once you get down 15 or 20 feet down is almost nothing from- winter to summer this circumstance makes diving in this country an expensive proposition to get completely outfitted with mask flippers weight belt tanks regulator flotation vest and wet suit can cost in the neigh bourhood of 5600 many ontario residents become licensed divers only so they will be able to dive when they go to more temperate climes diving regulations used to be pretty slack and as a result many inexperienced divers were killed or crippled as a result there are very few places you can rent or buy diving gear without proof you have taken a diving course after completing the pool and lecture parts of the course the student must successfully complete two open water dives before being granted a certificate these open water dives would make the proverbial brass monkey wince john montgomery fearless tribune editor takes to the deep to cover scuba course larry olson the instructor operating out of uxpool requires 16 laps in 10 minutes by the end of the course a diver has to be fairly strong to even get into the water without doing himself a great injury once loaded down withair tank wet suit a tead- weighted belt to super combat buoyancy and diving flippers it is dif ficult to move on the surface divers in fact look ludicrously funny shuffling along in their peculiar humpbacked manner once in the water though and all this weight just disappears and with the long flippers the diver is propelled effortlessly through the water one of the great attractions of diving is that you actually become part of the un derwater environment as long as your air lasts diving is s little like flying in the air you float above the ground changing direction with a jack of the feet you realize that underwater there are mountains and valleys cliffs and plains tobe explored one of the frightening things about taking a diving course is that you learn about such char ming creatures as sea snakes that travel through the oceans in packs devouring everything in their path a bite from one of these monsters causes death in diving instructor larry olson helps student judy dell into her diving gear the heavy air tanks are hard to handle on dry ground judy was the only girl enrolled in the fall diving course held at uxpool r scoba ttodenttihave learn bow to ivnddy breathe this u when two people hare the air from one tank using one regntator it b a safety precaution so divers will know how to share air in case one runs out during the dive the few seconds yon dont have air seems like hours when yon are un derwater at left shawn campbell makes a stride jump entry into thepool while above photographer svend debruyn surfaces after session of picture taking at bottom of pool svend provided the waterproof camera that made the underwater pictures possible