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The League of Extraordinary Divers Podcast

Imagine sitting down to a coffee or cocktail with your favorite diving personality and hearing their stories.  The League of Extraordinary Divers podcast brings legends in the diving industry to you.  Hosted by Tec Clark, this podcast features diving legends of the past and present sharing some of their best scuba diving stories.  You'll hear stories such as their original scuba training, scariest diving stories, funniest diving stories, favorite diving locations, as well as tips for divers.

LXD 012 : Al Hornsby – Author, Photographer, Conservationist

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HornsbyAl Hornsby  – Author, Photographer, Conservationist

In this episode of The League of Extraordinary Divers I chat with Al Hornsby author, underwater photographer & conservationist. Growing up as a military kid, Al learned to dive on an Air Force base in Guam.  In college Al knew he wanted to be in the diving industry so he traded his speargun for a camera.  With his friend in tow, Al did underwater photo journalism during a summer break.  That lead to an opportunity in a film shoot for The Joy of Diving.

Soon thereafter, Al began his career with PADI.  He was instrumental in the development of new training programs, especially instructor development.  He was also instrumental in developing industry standards with the RSTC.  Al left PADI for a brief period of time to be the editor of Skin Diver magazine – one of the largest and most popular magazines of the time.  Today, Al is one of the longest-standing employees at PADI.

An interesting note about this episode.  It was recorded at the 2017 DEMA Show in Orlando, Florida where Al was honored with the DEMA Reaching Out Award – one of the premiere awards in the diving industry.  Al has also just launched an amazing book Face to Face: Up Close with Mother Nature.

Face to Face
Face to Face: Up Close with Mother Nature by Al Hornsby

Items in this Podcast

  • Beyond The Standard Video Series for Dive Professionals (to subscribe text to 44222 and type GOBEYOND in the message)
  • DEMA Reaching Out Award
  • Cherokee Indian upbringings shaped his view of nature
  • Learning to dive in Guam
  • Inspired by The Silent World
  • Traded his speargun for an underwater camera
  • Began photo journalism over a summer break in college
  • Al received a break in modeling/acting when invited to be in The Joy of Diving
  • Began working at PADI in 1978
  • Al assisted in created the first PADI Course Director program
  • PADI’s early training programs
  • Micronesia
  • Dive platforms can be hazardous
  • The inspiration for his book Face to Face: Up Close with Mother Nature
  • Tips for underwater photography
  • Passion for marine conservation

Resources

Sponsor

Special thanks to our episode sponsor Aggressor Fleet

afl-logo-process-fin

Thanks for Listening!

Thank you for joining me again. Do you want to give a shout out to our guest on this podcast? Leave a note in the comments section below!

If you enjoyed this episode, please share it using the social media buttons you see at the bottom of the post.

Also, please leave an honest review for The League of Extraordinary Divers podcast on iTunes. Ratings and reviews are extremely helpful and greatly appreciated! And, don’t forget to subscribe to the show on iTunes to get automatic updates.

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LXD 011 : Mehgan Heaney-Grier – Record Freediver, Actress, Conservationist

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Mehgan_Heaney_GrierMehgan Heaney-Grier  – Record Freediver, Actress, Conservationist

In this League of Extraordinary Divers episode I chat with Mehgan Heaney-Grier. Growing up in the Florida Keys, Mehgan was constantly in and around the ocean.  She soon realized that her freediving abilities were off the charts.  At the age of 19 Mehgan set the first US women’s national freediving record to 155 feet.  One year later, she broke that record by going to 165 feet.  Her freediving records began a movement in the long-standing male-dominated sport, opening it up to females and young people.  Her underwater talents led her to Hollywood films where she became a stunt woman for Pirates of the Caribbean, Into the Blue, and Baywatch.

In 2015 Mehgan was hired onto an elite team of explorers for the Discovery Channel series, Treasure Quest, working as Divemaster and Anthropologist in search of lost Incan gold in the waters of South America.  Through mentoring and her work with a variety of nonprofit organizations, Mehgan is dedicated to doing what she can to be “part of the solution” when it comes to raising awareness about issues important to her, like the critical health and future of the world’s oceans.

Mehgan was an original inductee into the Women Divers Hall of Fame.

An interesting note about this episode.  It was recorded on the 20th anniversary of Mehgan’s record attempt.  In fact I was her deep judge and here we are 20 years later to the day talking about not only that dive, but all the amazing things she has done since that day.

Items in this Podcast

Resources

 



Sponsor

Special thanks to our episode sponsor Aggressor Fleet

afl-logo-process-fin

Thanks for Listening!

Thank you for joining me again. Do you want to give a shout out to our guest on this podcast? Leave a note in the comments section below!

If you enjoyed this episode, please share it using the social media buttons you see at the bottom of the post.

Also, please leave an honest review for The League of Extraordinary Divers podcast on iTunes. Ratings and reviews are extremely helpful and greatly appreciated! And, don’t forget to subscribe to the show on iTunes to get automatic updates.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed

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LXD 010 : Stephen Frink – Legendary Underwater Photographer, Publisher

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Stephen_FrinkStephen Frink – Legendary Underwater Photographer, Publisher

In this podcast I chat with Stephen Frink. Stephen Frink is among the world’s most frequently published UW photographers, with a career spanning nearly four decades. He arrived in Key Largo in 1978 to open a small studio dedicated to underwater photo services, where he primarily rented cameras and processed slide film, but soon he began to receive assignments to photograph and write articles for dive publications. For 17 years he worked as a photojournalist for Skin Diver magazine. After that he became the Director of Photography for Scuba Diving magazine. Currently Stephen is the publisher of Alert Diver Magazine, one of the most beautiful and inclusive magazines for the members of the Divers Alert Network. Stephen teaches Masters level courses at the Stephen Frink School of Underwater Digital Imaging in his home waters of Key Largo. His clients have included ScubaPro, Victoria’s Secret, Aqua Lung, Oceanic, Canon, Nikon, Subgear, Mercury Marine, Jantzen, , Seaquest, Henderson Aquatics, Neosport, American Express, Hanes, and Club Med; as well as scores of resorts and live-aboard dive boats throughout the world.

Stephen has won virtually every underwater photography award, but he has also won the prestigious NOGI award, Beneath the Sea’s Diver of the Year Award, last year he received the Our world Underwater Outstanding Achievement Award.

Stephen has other businesses include a dive travel company, WaterHouse Tours, and a stock photo agency, Stephen Frink Collection.

Stephen lives in the Florida Keys, where he operates his studio and gallery

Items in this Podcast

  • His start in YMCA swimming
  • Watching Sea Hunt
  • First job in diving – boat cleaning
  • Photography class in California
  • Moving from Hawaii to Colorado to Key Largo
  • His first business in underwater photography – renting cameras and processing film
  • Sport Diver Magazine gig
  • Skin Diver Magazine gig
  • Underwater modeling
  • Red Sea night dive
  • Tiger sharks and whale carcass
  • Dolphins respond to a potential rescue
  • Masters photography course in Key Largo
  • Underwater photo tips

Resources

 

 

Sponsor

Special thanks to our episode sponsor Aggressor Fleet

afl-logo-process-fin

Thanks for Listening!

Thank you for joining me again. Do you want to give a shout out to our guest on this podcast? Leave a note in the comments section below!

If you enjoyed this episode, please share it using the social media buttons you see at the bottom of the post.

Also, please leave an honest review for The League of Extraordinary Divers podcast on iTunes. Ratings and reviews are extremely helpful and greatly appreciated! And, don’t forget to subscribe to the show on iTunes to get automatic updates.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed

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LXD 009 : Tom Ingram – President & CEO of DEMA

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LXD Tom IngramTom Ingram – President & CEO of DEMA

In this episode of The League of Extraordinary Divers podcast I sit down Tom Ingram, President and CEO of the Diving Equipment and Marketing Association (DEMA). Tom’s been diving since the age of 11, and then becoming an instructor in the 70’s. But the unique thing about Tom’s path was that he was a solid educator teaching at both Florida Institute of Technology and Barry University in both of their diving business programs. Tom helped train many scuba instructors how to conduct the business side of diving.  Along the way Tom was also marketing director for both ScubaPro and Aqua Lung.  His background in both diving business and marketing has made him a very effective leader at DEMA.

He holds Masters degrees in Marketing & Management & served as Chair of the Board for the California Society of Association Executives, lecturer for the Professional Convention Management Association and author of numerous articles on diving, marketing, & management.

Items in this Podcast

Resources

DEMA.org

DEMASHOW.org

Go Dive Now Campaign

The Scuba Show

Sharkwater

Click here to support the Bill to Ban the Sale and Possession of Shark Fins

 

Sponsor

Special thanks to our episode sponsor Aggressor Fleet

afl-logo-process-fin

Thanks for Listening!

Thank you for joining me again. Do you want to give a shout out to our guest on this podcast? Leave a note in the comments section below!

If you enjoyed this episode, please share it using the social media buttons you see at the bottom of the post.

Also, please leave an honest review for The League of Extraordinary Divers podcast on iTunes. Ratings and reviews are extremely helpful and greatly appreciated! And, don’t forget to subscribe to the show on iTunes to get automatic updates

Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed

Subscribe: RSS

LXD 008 : Neal Watson

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Neal Watson – Diving World Record Holder

In this episode of The League of Extraordinary Divers podcast I sit down over a few craft beers with Neal Watson.  Neal is an icon in the Bahamas where he has had multiple diving operations.  Today he brings thousands to Bimini at his Bimini Scuba Center to encounter Great Hammerheads and pods of wild dolphins.  Neal also taught the Dutchess of York, Sarah Ferguson, how to scuba dive.  And, he is also known for two major world records in diving. Neal is the Guinness World Record holder for a deep dive on compressed air to 437 feet.  He also has an underwater distance record where he swam 66 miles underwater, non-stop from the Florida Keys to Miami – a total of 19 1/2 hours underwater.  Neal has worked in numerous major motion pictures, and appeared in television shows including 20/20, Inside Edition and The Today Show.

Neal Watson has multiple awards in our industry.  In 2004 Neal was inducted into the Fort Lauderdale Sports Hall of Fame.  In 2005 Neal was inducted into the DEMA Diving Hall of Fame.  For 15 years Neal has served as President of the Bahamas Diving Association and recently finished his third term as a DEMA Board of Director.

Items in this Podcast

  • Becoming a diver at 13
  • Training with Kitty Geisler for female deep air diving record (325 feet)
  • Training with Jacques Mayol for freediving record
  • Setting the Guinness World Record for Deepest Compressed Air Dive (437 feet)
  • Challenges of nitrogen narcosis
  • Salvaging the wreck of the Mira Via
  • A hitman buys Neal a drink
  • Gyrocopter world record
  • Setting the Guinness World Record for Longest Underwater Distance (66 miles)
  • Guest appearance on TV show “To Tell the Truth”
  • Shark Week with Michael Phelps
  • Teaching Sarah Ferguson, Dutchess of York, how to dive and taking her on a shark feeding dive
  • Montezuma’s Revenge on a charter boat
  • Great Hammerhead migrations in Bimini
  • Tips for new divers

Resources

Neal’s website Bimini Scuba Center

Neal Watson on To Tell the Truth TV Show – YouTube

Funky Buddha Brewery in Fort Lauderdale

The Big Blue (Director’s Cut)

Sponsor

Special thanks to our episode sponsor Aggressor Fleet

afl-logo-process-fin

Thanks for Listening!

Thank you for joining me again. Do you want to give a shout out to our guest on this podcast? Leave a note in the comments section below!

If you enjoyed this episode, please share it using the social media buttons you see at the bottom of the post.

Also, please leave an honest review for The League of Extraordinary Divers podcast on iTunes. Ratings and reviews are extremely helpful and greatly appreciated! And, don’t forget to subscribe to the show on iTunes to get automatic updates

Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed

Subscribe: RSS

Welcome Dive Professionals

Welcome to ScubaGuru.com!  The ScubaGuru brand is dedicated to giving dive professionals tools and techniques to be GREAT LEADERS – leaders in the classroom, leaders underwater, and leaders in their diving businesses.  With unique leadership skill-sets, the dive professional can create:

  • Better divers
  • Loyal customers
  • A thriving dive center
  • A flourishing dive industry

See what we mean by Go Beyond the Standard and enjoy the rewards of being truly great at what you do!

Sincerely,

Tec Clark

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