Unified Team Diving has confirmed a new leadership structure as co-managing directors Ben Bos and Jeremiah “Jay” Gardner step into day-to-day oversight of the global training agency, following the retirement of founder Jeff Seckendorf from management duties.
Seckendorf will remain active as an instructor and coach, continuing to teach under the same principles that helped shape UTD since its founding in 2008.
The move formalizes a transition UTD first outlined earlier this year, when the company launched a 60-day “listening period” to gather feedback from instructors and divers before charting its next phase. That process was designed to pause operational changes while the team mapped out the agency’s long-term direction.
Bos and Gardner will now lead that next chapter with an explicit focus on UTD’s core identity as a “thinking diver” organization. In practice, a thinking diver is trained not just to complete skills, but to understand the reasons behind them, maintain strong situational awareness, and contribute actively to a unified team in the water.
Under the new leadership, UTD plans to continue expanding its global network of recreational, technical, cave and rebreather programs while keeping the thinking diver philosophy at the center of course design and coaching. The agency says that approach — training divers to be adaptable, team-oriented problem-solvers — is what will define its future growth and the communities it builds worldwide.
For more information, go to utdscubadiving.com.
