Today we’d like to introduce you to Kristina Flynn.
Hi Kristina, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
Growing up in New Jersey (North Jersey) summers spent down the shore is where I fell in love with the ocean. I would be swimming from sun up to sun down no matter the water temperature, it was and still is my happy place. New Jersey isn’t really known for its great scuba diving conditions so I did not find this amazing sport and community until many years after moving to South Florida. I have lived in south Florida for 13th years and somewhere in between a friend pushed me to get my scuba certification. I am not sure why I had never done it before, I suppose life gets in the way sometimes.
As you can imagine once I completed my open water scuba course I was hooked. I couldn’t wait to dive again and begin the next course and do different and more advanced dives. The Dive community here is South FL is large and small at the same time, think small-town vibes. You get introduced to a lot of people all at once and one day I was introduced to a now friend who volunteered the first Saturday of every month doing Discover Scuba Session with children and adults living with disabilities. The participants joy of being underwater scuba diving in a pool is enough for anyone to say why am I not doing this all the time!
I signed up to be a volunteer and made myself available whenever possible. After this day is when I decided that I wanted to further my Scuba Career and go pro and become a Scubility Instructor. As a Scubility Instructor, I will be able to train people living with disabilities how to safely and effectively scuba dive.
The Founder of Thresher Aquatics approached me when she was in the beginning stages of creating the non-profit and asked me to be a part of the Thresher Aquatics Team. I am now a sitting board member and the Administrative Director.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
With all new things there are struggles. When I took my first scuba course, I had to take an extra pool course before entering the open water due to some comfortability issues I was having. With great instructors, I was able to learn more and become more comfortable and confidant in my skills as a diver. Working with/for a non-profit is similar to learning a new skill. I had to show that I was able to be a part of the team and that I am a team player. This was not difficult as we have the best team (no bias :))
In my opinion, having a great team that are dedicated to the mission of the non-profit offset the struggles that are thrown our own. We at Thresher Aquatics have a unique way of looking at things, we adapt and overcome. You have to when you are doing something a lot of people wouldn’t even think is possible.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about Thresher Aquatics?
We are a nonprofit 501(c) 3 that specializes in helping individuals living with disabilities to scuba dive. We start out in the pool with Discover Scuba Experiences so that people can give it a try and see if it is something they are interested in. After that we also offer all of the training, certification, as well as local, and international dive trips. The certification and diving is fully covered by Thresher Aquatics.
Thresher Aquatics also has a program for adaptive dive buddies. This training is a fully immersive empathy training both with land clinics and in water clinics to ensure that our adaptive divers have the best adaptive dive buddies out there. Anyone can volunteer and take the dive buddy training course with us at any level in diving. (95% of Thresher Aquatics Team is at the Pro-level (Divemaster or Instructor)
It is import to us that our adaptive divers have well-trained dive buddies so that they may enjoy the diving world without one more thing to worry about. Imagine as a diver not having a dive buddy, that normally means you are not diving (unless you have gone through specify training as a solo diver) This is one of the main reasons I love working with Thresher Aquatics I get to be someone dive buddy who normally would not have one.
What do you think about luck?
Wow, how has luck played a role in my life? For many people, I’m sure they have had their trials and tribulations. I would ultimately say that I am lucky to be alive and to have some truly amazing genuine people in my life. I do not normally look at it as luck because of the hard work that went into getting myself where I am today. However, with that hard work, I became lucky in the way that I am happy and excited with the life I have today! So, remember luck requires work, you have to get yourself to where you are going in order to feel lucky. (Keep on keepin on)
Pricing:
- Pricing for adaptive divers is free!
- Pricing for adaptive dive buddies free!
- SDI Scubility Instructor – TBD
- Local Trip – we ask for 20$ from everyone to tip the crew otherwise Thresher Aquatics pays for the trip
- International trips – TBD
Contact Info:
- Website: https://thresheraquatics.org/
- Instagram: _krisafish_ – personal
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ThresherAquatics
- Other: Instagram – Thresheraquatics
Image Credits
Greg Talerico
