X Games Medalist Young Takes a Dive

[Bunny Keo]

From Killer Tabletops to Wrecks and Reefs

Since he was a kid, Gary Young, 2009 ‘X’ Games BMX Freestyle Bronze
Medalist, has been defying gravity, hanging in the air twisting and turning on
his bike. Now he is taking his love of extreme activities down under the sea.

“Snorkeling was really like the gateway for me to get into diving.” said
Young, 26. “I started snorkeling a few years ago and it really sparked my
interest. I learned about sea life and hanging out under water was a new
thing for me. It’s always been something I’ve been interested in but I didn’t
really get hooked until I went snorkeling.”

Young has started his diving certification through PADI (Professional
Association of Diving Instructors). When he first expressed interest about
diving to a friend he discovered that his friend’s girlfriend and her father both
worked for PADI.

“I was talking to him about getting into diving and he said his girlfriend had
been trying to get him into diving for a while but he’d been scared,” said
Young. “And I said let’s do it together. One thing led to another and now
we’re on our way into diving.”

Young began his diving training with PADI’s eLearning. PADI eLearning
courses allow beginners to complete the classroom portion of certification at
their own pace, whenever or wherever it’s convenient for them. The
eLearning system consists of interactive presentations that include videos,
audio, graphics and reading, and is available in seven languages.

Since Young lives in southern California, he was able to go to PADI’s head
office for his confined water dives. This is followed by two open water dives
and completion of his diving certification.

Another reason Young chose PADI certification was because he found when
he did some research that PADI certification was accepted worldwide. This
was important to him because Young travels a lot. The BMX circuit takes him
all over the world, including some of the best diving places like Thailand,
Singapore, New Zealand and Australia. PADI has over 5300 dive shop and
resort members worldwide.

Although Young spends most of his days on the road practicing and
competing on his bike, perfecting his killer tabletops and 360s, he’ll be taking
sometime to check out the local marine life.

“I’ve been to so many places and now I’ll have the opportunity to go out and
see what is underwater and check out the reefs and wreck ,” said Young.
“Diving seems so cool to me.”