UTD Journal Volume 3, Issue 5, May 2015 | Page 6

ESM – My experience with teaching the Extreme Scuba Makeover for the Danish dive community is really exiting! Lots of divers in our dive community are so focused on equipment and write page after page on how they can use their own customized configuration to solve one problem with a 1000 reactive solutions. These divers, over the years, have developed all different kinds of technical solutions as a solution for poor skills. This quest on developing technical solutions tends to overshadow the importance of being attuned with the underwater environment. What is so unique with the ESM program is that it’s focussed on the diver and not the equipment! It’s fantastic to see the outcome of such a relatively short pool session. UTD Instructor Benjamin Larsen. I really love to see the expressions on the students’ faces when they all of a sudden feels the “pure” feeling of neutral buoyancy and buoyancy control, without any notice of the equipment. The students leave the class with a whole new view of scuba diving and want to learn more! It’s wonderful to hear the students express that they feel much greater control and comfort in the water and are able to manage their BCD proactively instead of reactively. This class is also a great teaser or sneak peak to the Essentials courses and many choose the ESM because of that. It’s great to see how this class gets a lot of publicity and admiration out in the dive community. Divers recognize that it takes