A Scuba Diver Among

Dec 1, 2024

Rotarian Jerry Albert shared his love of scuba diving and explained how he became a certified Professional Association of Dive Instructors (PADI) diver.

Jerry always loved the water but said he doesn't remember learning how to swim. His mother and her two sisters were strong swimmers and even tried out for the 1934 Olympics in Lake Placid. They didn't make the team but had fun trying out for it anyways. His mother was hired by the city of Albany as the first female lifeguard of the Lincoln Park pool. His mom also gave lessons to the children of rich families that resided in Loudonville. So surely, he must have learned to swim from his mother at a very early age. When he later watched Sea Hunt with Lloyd Bridges on television, he wanted to learn to scuba dive. So later in life when he and his wife were on a vacation, he signed up for a resort dive. A "resort" dive consists of learning all about the scuba equipment and how to use and care for it safely. After this class, they take you into 10 feet of water to dive and to get familiar with the water. Then you graduate into 20 feet. Looking at the people swimming over his head was cool. The instructor gave all the class members a handful of dog food pellets and told them to open their hands at the same time. When they did this, hundreds of tropical fish suddenly surrounded them. It felt like they were in a fish tank. After harping for months about wanting to take lessons, his kids got together and bought him scuba dive lessons for a Father's Day present. After he finished the classes to become a diver, he tested and became a certified PADI scuba diver. He continued his lessons until he finally was certified to dive to 120 feet and even at night and into caves.

There are dangers in diving, so you need to know how to safely do it. Once you are in the water you breathe air in but cannot breathe nitrogen out. If you dive too long or too deep, nitrogen builds up in your blood and your body can expel it as if you were breathing out of the water. The result is you get the bends. You must compute how long the dive can be and how fast you come up to allow the nitrogen to escape your body. After World War II, the US Navy developed and made charts that cover how many feet you should ascend and how swiftly you should come up. But now a days they have waterproof computers you wear on your wrist to do the figuring for you.

There are several types of dive trips, both landed and aboard ship. He went on to explain the difference. A landed dive you dive two times every day but return to hotels to eat and sleep. An aboard ship you eat, sleep, dive and socialize all week on the boat. This is when you really feel like you are diving.

Rotary has a fellowship of Scuba divers that sponsor two dives a year. Over the years, Jerry has been on several of these dives. He has met other Rotarians from all over the world. Rotarian divers attend local club meetings when possible. They collect and give money to local club fundraisers. They have donated to Polio Plus, Dive Heart, purchased a dialysis machine and help sponsor pure water drives.

Jerry has been grounded for the last few years because of some retina surgeries but the doctor has said he can now go ahead to dive. So Jerry signed up for a March dive to Curacao to put his "fins" back in the water again. The Rotary Fellowship has a motto, and it is "Surface Above Self". So happy dives to you, Jerry, and bring back some good pictures.

Author: Susan Coons
Windmill