Chase's first Seal Team lesson
Chase, my 10 year old son, has started taking lessons. He's in the Seal Team, which is basically an introduction to scuba diving for younger kids. There are two kids in the class, Chase and Jasmin (I hope I have it spelled right). They seem to be having a ball.
The lesson started off in the classroom. I got there late, due to a meeting at work that ran long, and they were already into the lesson. Chase was listening and doing well. He was also two feet from the teacher, as they had moved two desks up right in front of his desk. Both of them seemed to understand what they were talking about.
Seal Team goes through most of what we learn in the Open Water course, but they don't get certified. It's an introduction. That's about all a 10 year old is ready for, IMHO. I don't think many of them are ready for full on certification, though I believe you can get it done that young. A junior certification, which has limits, but it's a certification nonetheless.
Eventually they got in the water. They didn't set up their own gear like we did, the teacher set it up and then went over what all of it was. They had little 50 cubic foot tanks on, they were so cute. :-) They put their faces in the water, then got on their knees, then practiced taking the reg out and putting it back. Then they swam back and forth, and played with badmitton rackets and a golf ball, something for them to do while practicing swimming.
The first lesson was mostly to get them used to the equipment, and teach them enough to wear it. Pretty much like the grown up version. Later they'll learn to purge their masks, and things like that, and they'll go into the deep end of the pool.
The only hitch so far seems to be the fit of the BCD. Chase's kind of hangs off him, so the tank falls sideways when he swims. The instructor said that's pretty normal for the first night. Their next lesson is next Friday. I'll get pictures up when I can!
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