Poll: Is Scuba Diving a Sport ?

[Kat]

The Olympics say syncronized swimming is a sport. And lots of people say/think cheerleading & baton twirling are sports. Even some types of dancing has become a sport. (They all compete) So...
if these qualify as sports, why not scuba diving? Are you not striving to improve your technique? To improve your performance on every dive. It's a personal competetion. To be the best possible diver you can be. What ever that may mean to you.

 

[Lawman]

Why are we having this discussion? Is there some special status
in diving being a "sport"? Sports are things done by loutish young me who major in "communication" in college. Anyone can throw a ball or jump into the air. Children do it. It's fun to watch in the same way it's fun to watch horses run or dogs retreive ducks.
Diving is far too complex and difficult to be simply a "sport." It takes a knowledge of physics, both gas and liquid. Medicine and physiology, and simple mechanics. It takes constant study and practice to preform safely. Diving is more akin to exploring or bein g astronaut. We go places others either cannot or will not go. We surround ourelves with creature others fear. We bet our lives on our skills and training, and the skills and training of other divers.
Whatever diving is, it is something better than simply "sport."

 

[The Iceni]

Aquamaniac once bubbled...
How is Football a sport, and soccer not a sport?

What on earth is soccer anyway?

Liverpool for the FA, European and FIFA cups!

(FA = Football association (UK).
FIFA = Federation International of Football Associations!)=-)

What about chess?

However, diving is most certainly not a physically demanding, competitive spectator sport, as commonly seen on prime-time TV! Its the adjectives that count.

 

[Arnaud]

My wife, who doesn't dive and gets highly frustrated when I go diving, was trying to get me started by making the point that recreational diving is not a sport. The subtext was: "if it's not a sport, it does nothing good to you. So why the hell do you waste so much time and money on something that does not improve your physical condition?"

The bottom line is whether it's soccer, snooker or assembling small plane models or whatever gets you off, if you enjoy it as much as we all seem to enjoy diving, why does it matter?

Since we're into time wasting arguments, a friend of mine was making the point that spending money in expensive restaurants was the ultimate waste of money considering that no matter what you eat, it always ends up pretty much the same way.

I think it all comes down to having fun and appreciating the pleasures that life can provide. Some people get frustrated when they can't share in. Some others even believe that we are on the planet to suffer and shouldn't have any fun. Luckily, my wife's not part of that group. But that's another discussion that I won't address on a public forum...

Meanwhile, I'm about to go diving today. Life's too short!

 

[SM Diver]

.

 

[Amanda]

Well....

In my opinion, PADI diving is NOT a sport... but diving here in France IS one.

I don't want to criticize PADI, but I think their courses are not so physically demanding, even for DM.
Here in France (Warning = I'm not talking about one being better than the other) , the CMAS 1* is done without BCD, at least until the last dive of the course, where it is introduced. Beginners know how to control their buoyancy, and sometimes exercises are quite tough.

It may sound stupid, I know, but I think it's important to really know how to get yourself together in a dive without spending 95% of your time inflating / deflating your BCD, like most PADI divers do...

Cheers

 

[O-ring]

In my opinion, PADI diving is NOT a sport... but diving here in France IS one.

I don't want to criticize PADI, but I think their courses are not so physically demanding, even for DM.
Here in France (Warning = I'm not talking about one being better than the other) , the CMAS 1* is done without BCD, at least until the last dive of the course, where it is introduced. Beginners know how to control their buoyancy, and sometimes exercises are quite tough.

True, PADI courses aren't physically demanding until at least Rescue. One of the guys I dive with is from France and is CMAS level 2. He is a very good diver and we have had discussions about the perceptions of PADI in other countries, specifically Europe. He basically echoed what you said in your post...that, generally speaking, PADI is looked down upon by most European dive ops as being inferior to either CMAS or BSAC. I can't remember, but I thought he said that American agencies in general were looked down upon...including Naui and SSI. Is that true also?

 

[Zeina]

O-ring once bubbled...


I thought he said that American agencies in general were looked down upon...including Naui and SSI. Is that true also?

Well, I was certified in France back in 1998 under both FFESSM (French Federation)/CMAS and PADI systems.
Yes, PADI was looked down upon, and there even was a kind of "resistance" (i.e. some dive shops would not allow you to dive if you were PADI certified - please note that customer service in France is an abstract concept).
But this is changing. Divers are finding out, essentially when traveling, that PADI rules pretty much worldwide, and their glorious "FFESSM" c-card is not being worshipped as it should.
Dive associations and professionals could not ignore this fact for much longer, and there are now "bridges" between both systems (i.e. AOW is FFESSM level 2).
I had never heard of Naui or SSI before coming to the US. They're not even looked down upon, they are totally ignored in France!!
Regarding Amanda's comments on buoyancy control for beginners, I would like to add that NO OPEN WATER DIVES were required by the French system for the Open Water (level 1) certification!!! does not sound that great to me...

 

[Lawman]

Oh my God! Europeans [especially the French]are "looking down" on Americans and our diving! I don't know if I can handle the thought of French disaproval.

Next Luxembourg will refuse to let us dive in their river!

 

[Zeina]

I would just like to clarify a bit:
It is not Americans that are looked down upon, it is PADI.
And why? because the overwhelming growth of PADI worldwide represented a direct threat to the "local" agencies...
I have no clue how the rest of Europe reacts, though. I can only speak for what I have witnessed, in France.