Club committee member John Lee-Young initially trained with another agency, but finds club life provides a much richer experience. Interview by Kristina Pedder
FACTFILE
Name: John Lee-Young Job titles: Club Chair, OWI First dive: 1991
John( right) with his son Mark in Dahab
VOLUNTEERLIFE A steady hand
Club committee member John Lee-Young initially trained with another agency, but finds club life provides a much richer experience. Interview by Kristina Pedder
John Lee-Young grew up in the Caribbean, snorkelling from a very young age in fast-moving freshwater rivers looking for colourful swordtail helleries, or in shallow seagrass next to mangrove swamps searching for conch. Once he was old enough and tried diving, he says“ it felt like being home”. When John moved to the UK, he ensured that most of his holidays involved diving, but it was only in his 40s that he discovered the magic of UK diving.
With some 400 logged dives, he continues to explore what the UK has to offer. As an underwater photographer, John’ s favourite spots include shallow dives with lots of life. Swanage is a favourite haunt, but he has ranged further afield from Cornwall to Oban and Eyemouth in Scotland. Beautiful places overseas include Egypt, the Maldives and Thailand.
He says:“ One of my favourite dives was the USAT Liberty in Bali. It had everything. The HMS Maori in Malta was also spectacular when I dived it in 2018.”
John is now a Dive Leader and an active Open Water Instructor at Dacorum SAC in Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire. He regularly leads try dives and is part of the club’ s instructor team. Now in a second
The Liberty wreck in Bali
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Shore dive in Norfolk Diving out of Swanage
FAVOURITEKIT
Can I say a dry
“ drysuit? I eked out a bit too much life from my last one and got so used to being forever damp that finally having a new dry O’ Three Ri 2-100 suit is an amazing luxury.
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