International Scuba Hall of Fame honours the best

From Cay Compass: International Scuba Hall of Fame honours the best
The International Scuba Diving Hall of Fame induction ceremony and banquet takes place at Grand Old House on Tuesday, 8th November.

It is the 11th year of an event that has helped to ensure Cayman’s status on the global map of dive, says committee member Rod McDowall.

“We had the `0th anniversary last year. We induct international scuba diving founders; people primarily in the recreational diving industry.

“It is extremely well-recognised by the industry. It is a great event; we get a lot of press and PR from all over the world. We’ve had South Pacific, Australia, Europe, North America. It is a great way to host and entertain the people who have made the industry so significant,” he says.

Best destination
Indeed, the event is also testimony to Cayman as a diving destination and its reputation as one of the best destinations worldwide.

“It was very opportune that 11 years ago the government and tourism people came up with the concept and have kept it going.”

The 2011 inductees include Howard and Michele Hall, Andre Laban, Clement Lee, Bev Morgan and Allan Power. Also recognised on the night will be diving pioneers Hugh Bradner, Louis de Corlieu and John Scott Haldane.

“The ceremony really is worthwhile - it’s like a great sporting event with the top people in the industry coming over. It is a great opportunity for the scuba industry to meet the pioneers and spend some time with them,” Rod says.

Scuba’s place in Cayman’s history, of course, is a central one over the past few decades and the hall of fame committee has ideas on how to take things forward by recognising the past. The latest idea is to try and establish a physical presence for the artefacts, photos and gadgets that have been a part of the sport over the years.

“We have been looking and even seeing if we can incorporate something within the Cayman Islands National Museum. I think it would be a great attraction. Over the years a number of items related have been purchased and of course there are great bios and photos of the people.

“After the hurricane the museum lost a lot of stuff and it would attract people to the museum; a physical presence would be neat for visiting scuba divers as well as the cruise ship visitors passing through.”
You already have the infrastructure and staff and the costs are already there - you can get another attraction in place without going to any great expense.”

Film festival
The day prior to the Hall of Fame induction - Monday, 7th November - sees the Westin Casuarina Resort and Spa’s Governor’s Ballroom host the annual International Film Festival. There will also be a presentation on the ex-USS Kittiwake, which was sunk deliberately in West Bay waters in January 2011 to provide a dive site and artificial reef. The night begins at 6.30pm with cocktails and a silent auction for charity, which always proves popular amongst the dive cognoscenti, and tickets cost $25.

Inductees 2011

Howard and Michele Hall
Howard and Michele Hall are award-winning natural history filmmakers and photographers perhaps best known for their underwater IMAX films. As director and producer, respectively, their IMAX feature film credits include the IMAX3D feature Into the Deep; Island of the Sharks, Coral Reef Adventure (in which they are also featured on camera), Deep Sea 3D, and most recently the IMAX3D feature Under the Sea3D. Howard has been the underwater cinematographer and/or director of underwater cinematography on four other IMAX features. Howard and Michele also have a history in television programming, and between them they have won seven Emmy awards.

André Laban
André Laban is a world-renowned French diver, photographer, author and painter. He was a pioneering member of Jacques-Yves Cousteau’s Calypso team, serving as chief engineer and diver. He developed early underwater cameras that were used in shooting The Silent World, which won an Oscar for Best Documentary in 1956. He shot several films in the Cousteau Odyssey series, co-directed three, and his distinctive bald head can been seen in several Cousteau films.

Bev Morgan
Bev Morgan began free diving and surfing in 1949, a year after leaving high school and became a Los Angeles County lifeguard in 1952. That year, he purchased an early Aqua Lung scuba unit and founded the Los Angeles County Instructors programme, which was the first scuba instructor’s programme available to the public. He also wrote the first instruction manual, which was based on the Scripps Institute programme and also the underwater safety, a standard diving book of the 1950s.

Allan Power
Allan Power has a vast knowledge of President Coolidge; he is the man they call ‘Mr President’. Nearly 40 years ago, Allan came to Santo on a salvage expedition and has remained to become the caretaker of this magnificent underwater adventure. With over 15,000 dives on the wreck his knowledge is arguably unrivalled.

In addition, the 2011 Diving Pioneers include: Hugh Bradner (USA), who developed the wetsuit, Louis de Corlieu (France), who is credited with inventing the swim fin and John Scott Haldane (Scotland), who developed staged decompression tables.

It is a great opportunity for the scuba industry to meet the pioneers of the sport