Underwater CYM

Cleveland, Ohio, US -- Ihor Diaczun and Major Oleh Holowatyj (US Army retired) took 16 starshi boys and girls to White Star Campgrounds in Ohio to complete the final phase for SCUBA diving certification on what happened to be the coldest weekend of the year so far (22-24 October 1999). The sumivtsi had to demonstrate the ability to use the breathing aparatus and regulators under 20-30 feet of lake water. The certification required 2 dives per day (20-40 minutes at a time) per student. Temperatures that weekend hovered around 50 degrees (F); water temperature 65 degrees (F). Earlier in the year, the students attended classes at Just Add Water over an entire weekend to learn the skills needed to complete the underwater dives. With the final outdoor dive, the sumivtsi became officially certified SCUBA divers.

The SCUBA experience was one phase of the carefully planned Mandrivnyj Tabir of 1999. Other activities included: conditioning at Oselia Khortytsia followed by white-water rafting, horse-back riding, rapelling, and mountain-biking in West Virginia. These sumivtsi now are truly "zahartovani" thanks to the organizers of the tabir Messrs Diaczun & Holowatyj.