UTD Journal Volume 3, Issue 2, February 2015 | Page 4

UTD WAtersports san diego! By Randy Tay, Manager, San Diego Watersports A lmost every dive professional with a facility will tell you the same old story, maybe with a few variation. They will tell you how they got hooked to scuba diving after that first breath off the regulator, how that quickly turned into a passion which prompted them to “move up the ranks,” eventually attaining the Scuba Instructor rating. At this point, the story would either branch out to quitting their jobs to plunge head-long into the Scuba industry, or how they planned for a business after their retirement which they can enjoy doing in the form of a scuba shop. My story was no different, at least in the beginning, except that it was the facility that found me. I first got involved with Unified Team Diving (UTD) back in 2009 after watching those popular YouTube videos of Andrew Georgitsis in impeccable trim and buoyancy control. I remembered I was floored when I first saw those videos as I never knew a diver could have such incredible control. I also remember vividly talking to Andrew on the phone for over an hour inquiring about training paths and the route to becoming an instructor. That was my very first encounter which left me with a very good impression. My second encounter was a face to face interview with Jeff Seckendorf, the co-owner of UTD during the annual DEMA show. Not long after that I began my training with UTD. The route to becoming a UTD instructor was long and arduous, at least for me. During the four years of my struggle, UTD became my second home and I got to know both Andrew and Jeff on a more personal basis. Both of them have been incredible as my mentors, and Andrew even personally recommended me to another instructor when I was ready for my Cave Diving training – UTD Instructor Trainer Poh Chang Chew, who has also, during the course of the last two years, became my mentor. When I was finally also Tech trained, I got an unexpected call from Jeff. You see, UTD has been growing by leaps and bounds since they started and as part of their growing plans, they are also doing something revolutionary in the industry: supporting the instructor like no other training agency has done. And that call from Jeff was the opportunity to be part of this revolution.