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)
EDITOR’S NOTE: Contact
Jeff Rice at (419) 352-9203 quarryman@portagequarry.com for high resolution
photos or interviews with any of the legends announced in this release.