Wednesday, May 4, 2011

Swimming with a group from the Shepherd Center

Front L-R: Trey Bradbury, Travis Cox, Marlos Chenault, Gail Yordy
Rear L-R: Nakuma Brown, Angie Pihera, Tara MacCaughelty, Cecilia Rider
On Thursday, April 14, a small group from the Shepherd Center in Atlanta came to the Georgia Aquarium to swim with the gentle giants. The swimmers included Travis Cox, Marlos Chenault, Trey Bradbury, and Gail Yordy. The Dive Immersion staff used their recent Handicap Scuba Association training as the four swimmers were wheelchair users and required assistance getting geared up and entering and exiting the water.

Several staff members from the Shepherd Center (Tara MacCaughelty, Nakuma Brown, Cecilia Rider, and Angie Pihera) accompanied the four swimmers to help with clothes changes and also to act as the swimmers’ primary buddies while in the water.
Lead Dive Master Stacey Schneider (2nd from left) gives the final briefing to the group. Extra DIP staff members were on hand to act as secondary buddies and Safety Swimmers  to each pair from the Shepherd Center.
After the briefing, each swimmer went down the ramp to the dock where they were geared up with the standard Scuba Experience Apparatus (S.E.A) before entering the water.

Travis Cox and Nakuma Brown make their way down to the dock.
Gail Yordy is lowered onto a pad on the dock to make it easier to don the S.E.A. and enter the water.
Trey Bradbury’s final gear check prior to getting in the water
Everyone is almost ready to go. Susan Oglesby, Assistant Manager of the Dive Immersion Program looks on as Gail Yordy and Marlos Chenault get used to the water and gear.
Once all the swimmers were in the water, their tour began. The typical route taken by the swimmers is a large figure-8, crossing from one side of the exhibit to the other over the tunnel. Several family members came with the swimmers and got a chance to see them as they went over the tunnel and in front of the big viewing window in the Theater Room of the gallery.

Trey Bradbury and Gail Yordy, along with their buddies cross over the tunnel while two whale sharks pass below them.
The swimmers were in the water about 30 minutes and everyone had a fantastic time. A few of them may have gotten bumped by one or two of the whale sharks but that just added to the excitement of the day. Trey Bradbury was overheard saying he might be interested in getting certified as a diver. The Georgia Aquarium has the largest number of HSA-certified Instructors and Dive Masters in the world so he won’t have to look far for a teacher.

The Shepherd Center has already scheduled several more swims for its patients in the coming months and we in the DIP staff look forward to them.

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