Re: Power Snorkel, Snuba, or Helmet Diving?

Yiu are correct, sir!
"Rosalie B." <gmbeasley@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:05tfv2h41nlj1a5aqcibga13r1kggu4uid@xxxxxxxxxx
"-hh" <recscuba_google@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

Odysseus <x...@xxx> wrote:
I am over fifty, have sinus problems, asthma, high blood pressure,
and I'm not in great physical condition. My conclusion is that
snuba or helmet diving will be very risky for me.

Unfortunatly, many of the 'accidents' that occur today in these water
sports are usually related to relatively poor health, combined with
the stress of simple exercise. In the meantime, PADI is "pooh-

So you are agreeing with Odysseus? Your general tone seems to be one
of disagreement.

poohing" the need to actually test & evaluate for good basic fitness,
health and even the ability to be a good swimmer, all in their effort
to increase sales through a broader customer base. They're even now
promoting kids as young as 12 years old to dive, even though there's
medical studies which have shown that it inhibits bone growth.

I haven't been a certified scuba diver for very long (just since 1997)
but the age for kids to dive was 12 at that time. That was 10 years
ago - not that recent.

Instructor Larry "Harris" Taylor has good webpages on this medical
issue as well as others. Here's his "Why I do not train Kids"
webpage: <http://www-personal.umich.edu/~lpt/kids.htm>
And here's his top homepage: <www.mindspring.com/~divegeek/>

Worth reading for anyone who's interested in knowing what is known
about the risks, instead of just what the industry mouthpieces want
you to hear.

I looked at this page to try to find the studies that you mention on
inhibiting bone growth, and couldn't see it, but the page was a little
confusing and I'm not sure that all the reasons on which he bases his
conclusions are valid.

For instance:

He lists swimming in pools or contaminated water as an increased risk
for skin cancer and that seems strange to me - swimming in outdoor
pools would also have increased sun exposure. Who has not swum in a
pool in the summer? And I'm not sure how anyone would determine that
contaminated water was a cause so far after the fact. My husband at
70 had a melanoma, and I (at 69) had two very small ones. Is our
swimming history as a child relevant to that? Neither of us do
tanning and neither of us smoke, but we both have very fair skin and
we are boaters.

And is he seriously suggesting that children not swim in a chlorinated
pool until after the age of 16? Because I don't think that a scuba
course would substantially increase the amount of water exposure of a
child. IMHO the skin type that one has inherited and the sun exposure
that one gets is more important that the exposure to chlorine in
pools. So IMO this is not a good reason for not teaching scuba. It's
not even a good reason not to have a child swim on a swim team where
there would be a great deal more exposure.

I have a 12 year old grandson who is as tall as his mother (who is
5'6"), and has been boating, fishing, swimming, snorkeling (from about
age 5) and free diving with his dad. They have a small pool at home.
His dad was certified at about age 14. His dad is 6'3" so HIS growth
was certainly not stunted. I don't see any reason why he shouldn't
take a class and be certified. He's probably a better prospect as a
safe diver than Jr. is to do helmet diving.







.