Legendary Freediver and ‘Keeper of the Flame’ Headline Dive Weekend

Contact: Jeff Rice
(419) 352-9203
jeff@portagequarry.com
9 A.M. EDT, July 26, 2008

Bowling Green (OH) – The annual legends of SCUBA diving festival in northwest Ohio is having its biggest expansion this year -- more featured legends, more prizes from sponsors, and an off-shore sister location on Grand Bahama Island in the Caribbean.

Announced this season for the August 8-10 event are legends Nick Icorn and Robert Croft. Nick Icorn is a Hall of Fame legendary diver and has been revered as the “Keeper of the Flame” for his promotion of the sport. Robert Croft, who introduced free diving to America will join Icorn and other legends featured this year. In 1967 Croft was the first to break the 200-foot barrier for depth while breath holding.

Also announced for the event at Portage Quarry, Tina Icorn will join her father Nick at the Legends Festival. Tina is an accomplished diver with logs from around the world. The duo adds to the second generation pairing which also includes Dr. Sam Miller III and Dr. Sam Miller IV. Dr. Miller IV is an accomplished doctor in dive physiology. He will present on hyperbaric medicine and gas mixtures.

Returning are legends Sam Lecocq and Alec Peirce who have been featured at each of the Legends Festivals. Lecocq was instrumental in the early days of diving for his patent development on dive regulators. Peirce, of Scuba 2000, is a renowned expert on the TV series Sea Hunt and is the owner of the largest dive shop in Canada.

This year over $10,000 will be given away in prizes including two grand prize trips, a dive vacation to Grand Bahama Island given away on Saturday and a Belize trip giveaway on Sunday. A Whites $1,400 Fusion Drysuit donated by the manufacturer and a Cressi-sub Archimedes Dive Computer, retail $780, donated by Peirce of Scuba 2000 are also on the schedules for prize giveaways.

One prize that might receive the most attention is a gold-plated Gold Phoenix Royal Aqua-Master. This is the only gold-plated double hose regulator in the world, specially produced for the event as a raffled prize.

Divers have attended for the speakers, the speakers, and the events of which this year are many. On Saturday Alec Pierce will present a 50 yr. Sea Hunt memorabilia Party, followed by a Mike Nelson surprise birthday cake, in honor of the Sea Hunt and Lloyd Bridges who portrayed Nelson on the hit TV series. Sea Hunt actress Zale Parry was featured in 2007 at the Legends Festival.

Saturday morning begins with a Treasure Hunt sponsored by the Wood County Rescue Team. In addition, Saturday afternoon there will be a Treasure Hunt sponsored by Bryan Pennington of VintageDoubleHose.com and a Compass Poker Run with prizes from Adventure Diving of Milan Michigan. Host for this event will be Tyler Schultz and the Wrecking Crew. Saturday evening the Revenge of the Creature will be shown on one of the only beach sit-in movie theatres in the country. Guests are asked to bring their lawn chairs and watch the movie on the large screen. Sunday events include a swap meet of vintage SCUBA gear and a treasure hunt put on by Peirce and Scuba 2000.

Organizer Jeff Rice of the Portage Quarry Recreation Club has expanded the event to include an offshore facility the first week of April in 2009 that complement the mainland version of the festival. There divers can experience the festival at the Underwater Explorers Society (UNEXSO), the premiere dive destination and dolphin experience facility located in Lucaya, Grand Bahama Island. Rice has made the commitment to both locations and continued growth for the festival that has seen divers come in from Canada and states as far south as Louisiana.

To help coordinate the communications a new website was launched earlier this year. The intllegendsofdiving.com Internet site has registration forms, directions, show information and event registration for both locations. Portage Quarry is south of Bowling Green on route 25 with easy access off I-75 at Route 6 West.

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ABOUT PORTAGE QUARRY: Located just one mile south of Bowling Green in Northwest Ohio, the Portage Quarry Recreation Club is a complete recreation facility that caters to the Scuba diver enthusiast. The Scuba diver will experience some of the best recreational diving in Ohio with clear water visibility, wreck diving, and plenty of fish. The Scuba dive shop includes tank rentals, nitrox fills, equipment, and PADI instruction. There are three professional beach volleyball courts along with recreational swimming from a sand beach. In the summer the Portage Quarry Recreation Club is home to two music traditions, a music BlowOut the first weekend of July and the annual . Also on the schedule is a Divers Alert Network (DAN) Barbeque and the Advanced Aquatics Steak Roast. Trademarks are the rights of the perspective companies.

UNEXSO a premier dive destination was founded in 1965 as the first dedicated scuba training facility in the world. UNEXSO’s management team has worked for a number of world-class resort and dive operations in the Bahamas, Caribbean, Hawaii, Europe, Middle East, Australia, and Asia and throughout the continental United States. UNEXSO is one of the most respected and ecology friendly dive operators in the Caribbean.

Inernational Underwater Explorers Society
UNEXSO In The Bahamas
PO Box F-42433
Royal Palm Way
Freeport, Grand Bahama Island
The Bahamas
Phone 242-373-1244
Fax 242-373-8956

For more information on UNEXSO
1-800-992-DIVE (3483)