A 24-year-old student diver missing since Friday had only trained for two months before attempting a 215-foot descent some diving instructors deemed extremely dangerous.
The man, whose name has not been released, had completed about 25% of a seven-month commercial diving course at the Divers Institute of Technology in Seattle before he and two Pierce County men dove into the water near the 4000 block of Ruston Way Friday evening.
The other two divers surfaced within minutes. The Seattle man did not.
Institute director John Paul Johnston said the fateful dive was not sponsored by the school and was not part of the missing man’s training regimen. About half of the man’s instruction had been in a classroom, and he only had practiced in the water for about a month, Johnston said.
"That was not a dive that was associated with the school," Johnston said. "A recreational dive like that goes against everything we teach. From our perspective, a deep dive would be 130 feet. And I have no idea why he would try it."
Pierce County sheriff’s deputies searched for the man throughout the weekend, but called off the effort Sunday afternoon. The missing diver is presumed dead.
Source: Tribnet.com
