On February 18th Mia DaPonte of East Greenwich, Rhode Island officially became New England’s youngest Master Scuba Diver. According to the Professional Association of Diving Instructors (PADI), fewer than two percent of divers earn this rating and Mia is only the second 12-year-old in the United States, and one of a very small (single digits) number globally, to achieve this elite diver status.
Mia’s birthday is in February when New England waters are dangerously cold. To perform her certification dives on her 12th birthday, the earliest possible age allowed by PADI for a Master Diver certification, Mia, her family, and her instructors, Allison Trainor and Seamus Hastings from Dive on It Scuba, traveled to Blue Angel dive resort in Cozumel, Mexico.
Arriving in Cozumel on February 11th, Mia spent over 20 hours in the water reviewing her skills and enjoying numerous recreational dives, including her first night dive where she made friends with an octopus and some baby squid.
“What an exhilarating, exciting and exhausting week, well for me anyway,” said Allison Trainor. “Mia worked so hard to reach this goal! The dives during our week in Cozumel were challenging and we had a clear mission for them, and she rose to the occasion. Even when she was clearly tired (much less tired than the adults were, for sure!), she dug deep and found the strength to carry on! There were tasks that didn’t come easy, but she made the effort and earned the right to call herself Master Scuba Diver! I’m so proud of her and am honored to witness her achievements!”
“I feel incredibly fortunate to have been part of Mia’s journey since day one,” added Seamus Hastings. “From the moment she walked into the classroom, we just clicked. You could tell she was focused on more than just learning to dive; and she brought the personality to go with it. Mia is a whirlwind of energy and determination. The biggest challenge was channeling all that energy and focus, but every bit of this incredible achievement is because of the hard work put in by Mia. Her passion and excitement for the ocean are truly inspiring. She is one of a kind, and I am honored to have been a part of her journey.”
To become a Master Scuba Diver, Mia needed to earn certifications in PADI Open Water Diver, PADI Advanced Open Water, PADI Rescue Diver, and complete a minimum of 50 dives. Additionally, Mia holds more than six PADI Specialty Certifications including CPR & First Aid, Equipment Specialist, Underwater Photography, Underwater Navigation and more.
For her Master Scuba Diver certification Mia passed her final e-learning classroom exam on her birthday, the first day that the exam could be released to her. She then had to perform three certification dives in the same day. During the first dive, Mia and her instructor, Seamus, dove to a depth of 58 ft to meet her deep dive requirement. She also demonstrated the required rescue procedures by lifting an “unconscious” adult to the surface from the ocean floor and administering rescue breathing techniques while towing them to safety. To perfect this skill, Mia spent countless hours in the controlled environment of a pool drilling to ensure she could execute the technique in the open ocean.
“I feel proud,” Mia says. “Even though I passed, not all of it was easy. The rescue portion was the hardest physically for me. It was not easy to lift someone to the surface and get in the right position above them for each rescue breath. I was also very nervous about taking my final e-learning exam on my birthday. This feels like an amazing experience, I made a lot of friends in Mexico and throughout my training over the past two years, especially my instructor, Seamus. He is the best. Accomplishing my goal feels like a dream come true.”
Prior to her certification dives in Cozumel, Mia has completed all of her training in Jamestown, Rhode Island. Training in New England proposes a set of hurdles not encountered in warmer areas. New England waters are the most challenging to dive in due to low visibility, temperature, and changing currents. Further, the window in which Mia could prepare was limited by the colder seasons; therefore Mia had less time to meet the PADI Master Scuba Diver requirements than any other candidate before her. It is often said in the diving community that if you can dive in New England, then you can dive anywhere.
Even though her training took place in New England, Mia has logged recreational dives in clearer waters in Bermuda, Puerto Rico, Bahamas and Dominican Republic, making Mia a very diverse diver. She has explored coral reefs and ship wrecks, swam with sting rays and sharks, and observed a shark feeding up close.
Mia has spent two years studying and training for her Master Scuba Diver certification. Not only has she invested countless hours in the water working on her skills, she also completed associated online e-learning courses and classroom work. Performing the tests on her birthday, Mia ensured no one could strip the title from her and New England’s Youngest Master Diver would be hers for good.
Mia is a sixth-grade student at Cole Middle School in East Greenwich, Rhode Island. She is also a black belt in karate.
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