Page 6 - Sports Energy News, Cornwall, Issue No 126

6 Issue #126 July 2023
Continued from page 1
them to take me for a special dive.
And I didn’t want to lead that dive,
I told them, you guys can lead me.
The only one who was missing,
due to other commitments, was
Hubert Chretien M.S.M., who
runs Freedom at Depth Canada
for people with disability. If you
do the maths, that makes around
seventy-seven dives per year in
thirteen years.”
They went down diving to lock
21 at Long Sault Parkway, it is
one of the old locks that had been
submerged when they flooded the
area to build the seaway in 1958. L-R Ron McDonald, Patricia O’Hara, Dan Foster
Dan Foster said Patricia was an
inspiration to him. He and Ron
have been good friends for the past
thirty years, but they had never
been able to dive together as one
would go down diving, while the
other stayed in the boat. But on
that special day, Ron and Dan were
diving on both sides of Patricia,
no boat was needed as they were
doing a shore dive. It took Patricia
thirty years to get them to dive
together, he said laughingly. There
was a total of eleven divers that growing up, she used to watch a
came in the water on Sunday, and tv program, “Sea Hunt,” about a
many more were on the beach.
On the day of the interview she
said, “It is exciting to dive in that
area. Today we went on Ron’s
boat, and we did a dive just west of
the Crysler marina and dove on top
of the old highway 2. Around the
culvert. It is fun. It’s like taking a swimmer, a lifeguard, and an and who will coach you.
www.sportsenergynews.com
She says, “I had a health scare,
and when I came out of it and I said
to myself, I am not waiting any
longer, I am going to get started
and I called up the dive shop. I
talked to Ron’s wife who said
that a class was starting that same
evening. She asked me if I was
older than twelve years old! I was
glad to hear that twelve years old
was the minimum age to learn how
to dive, but there was no maximum
age.
And I joined the first-level class
where you must learn everything
about diving, theory, and practice:
you must learn about depth, the
equipment, the risks, and you
photo Tammy Massengale
practice in pool. Then you must
walk in the woods, except you are instructor throughout her life. write the exams and you must do
under water. We meet lots of fish, She says laughingly, “I had the the check-out dive where you do
the local fish are not as colorful mermaid gene.” four dives with the divemaster at a
as the ones down south, but we depth 30 feet. That’s quite deep for
But sometimes, life takes us on a
see sturgeons, eels, bass, carps, the first time because you practice
different path, and it is only when
walleye, the biggest sturgeon I saw in the pool which is about 10 -12
she turned 61 that she decided
in the St Lawrence measures six feet. When you get to 30 feet, it’s
that she would fulfill her dream.
feet.” a big step. It was not scary, quite
It all started by a phone call to the contrary, I thought it was quite
How did it all start: the Mermaid exciting.
gene. Ron McDonald’s scuba diving
shop and Ron has been her You can’t forget that the river
When Patricia O’Hara was
divemaster since then. and the water have all the power,
and as a swimmer you must
What does it take to become a
character named Mike Nelson, scuba diver? respect that, and you never take
it for granted. Each time you go
portrayed by Lloyd Bridges. This To become a scuba diver, you down, you learn something about
tv series greatly influenced her. must be certified. You obtain the yourself. You can’t be complacent,
She remembers thinking that it certification after successfully you can enjoy it, but you must
was what she wanted to do when passing the exams and the diving respect her power.”
she grew up. tests. And you have to identify
She loved water, she was a someone to act as your divemaster, An amazing diving experience.
Continued on page 8