My names Sophie O’Dea I am 12 years old and I’ve been diving since I was 8, I got into diving by watching my older brother and other family members. It had always interested me and I would love listening to their stories as they surfaced, I’d snorkelled from a really young age but wanted to know what it was like deeper so I started doing try dives and got my PADI Open Water Certification at 10yrs old. From there I was hooked!
When you get into the water and descend it’s like a new world has opened up, I love any kind of diving whether it’s my local quarry, Greece, Egypt, drift diving or shallow dives to collect rubbish. Every dive is amazing, the colours, marine life and I feel so peaceful I could float and watch all day. At the age of 11 the Covid pandemic hit which meant I couldn’t dive at all, my mum got me a 12 foot paddling pool and I’d put my gear on and play about in that, there I came up with an idea to raise money for the NHS.
In July 2020 I got my first world record while raising money for charity, I became the first person in the world to build a Lego plane on top of a sunken plane at 12 meters.
It took me 54 minutes in total with a whole support team and it was an amazing feeling. I wasn’t done there, in January 2021 I completed my hardest dive to date, it was -2 air temp and 2 degrees water temp. I completed my rescue dive in the Lake District complete with snow and wind, over the 2 days I became the world’s youngest female PADI Master Scuba Diver. I am 12 years old with 2 world records, I feel incredibly lucky.
The opportunity I received is open to anyone with the proper training, equipment and knowledge. Anyone can become a Scuba Diver and should!! The minute you enter that water will be the start of your journey and I can honestly say it won’t be your last! You will be privileged to see a world that everyone should see, every child/adult should be taught and given the proper knowledge to protect and respect our oceans and marine life, without that the world would be a sad place to live in! I hope my story encourages others to dive to see things they’ve only seen on T.V, trust me they’re better in real life.
Dive UK Hurghada:
We at Dive UK Hurghada just want to say what an inspirational message this is for any young diver. We are super proud of Sophie and all that she has achieved in her young life. To become a PADI Master Scuba Diver at the age of 12 really takes dedication from any student and parents at such a young age. We have followed Sophie’s story and think it’s true what Sophie says, if you want to Scuba Dive and see the under-water world you can. There is nothing stopping you.
Dive UK Hurghada have a great deal of experience in teaching students from a young age and love to introduce anybody to Scuba Diving. We suggest anybody wanting to get into Scuba take a PADI Discover Scuba Diving programme with a local dive centre and then if you enjoy it go on to take your PADI Open Water Certification. We provide both here in Hurghada, Egypt and should you want any further details please get in touch and we would happily give you any advice free of charge.
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