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~ Alfredo Foundation teaches swimming, snorkelling and scuba ~

Need a New Year resolution? Why not earn your scuba diving certificate? It's a shame not to enjoy our island's most abundant natural attraction, especially since Alfredo Foundation offers the training to residents for free.

The sea surrounds us; it is beautiful beyond words, myriad shades of blue, glinting and dancing, inviting us to explore. But too many residents of The Friendly Island find the sea intimidating, and water in general, off limits. Fear of the unknown or lack of instruction may be to blame; but since 2009, one man is doing his best to make the ocean off limits no more.

Alfredo Tapia is a passionate instructor, with 28 years of teaching experience. Since emigrating to St. Maarten from Peru, he has donated his time and energy to work with students, ages 15 to 40, teaching them how to swim, snorkel and scuba dive. With his training sessions, even people with no swimming abilities at all can learn to conquer their fear and enjoy the sea. Through the foundation that he started, Alfredo organizes classes with large numbers of students, free of charge. Utilizing volunteer assistants from the scuba community, Alfredo has students in academic-style classes before introducing them to the "Let's get in the water" portion of the classes. Before moving to the next level of the course, the students must master a set of skills. By the end of the swimming portion, they are confidently taking on an open ocean distance swim with a safety boat and safety swimmers in attendance.

The fifth group of students has just finished this full sequence of coursework and they are now fully certified scuba divers. This certificate is provided by PADI, the largest-leading dive organization in the world; it can be then used all around the world for recreational (tourist) diving. Alfredo reflected on his experiences with this fifth group of students: "We started with 100 people and after four months of training, meeting every Sunday, 34 continued and finished the swim from the boardwalk to Kimsha beach. And as you may have read in The Weekender of September 6, 2014, the students are very happy. I am only talking to them and giving them trust; but in the end, they're their own motivators and reach their goals, as they did on that Sunday."

Swimming & Snorkelling

The first section of this course will show each participant the correct way to swim professionally, and use this technique to then snorkel and therefore begin an interaction between oneself and the organisms that reside underwater. There will be two groups divided, one for those who already have experience in open-water swimming and another for those who have no experience in open-water swimming. Every week, we will continue to have land and in-water sessions, covering the techniques before demonstrating them in water. As every week progresses, the student will continue to demonstrate his knowledge and experience by swimming longer distances. At the end of this section, there will be a long 6km swim as a test to prove what everyone has learned over the past sessions.

Scuba Diving

The second section of the foundation will start with students who have successfully completed the swim test. This section of the course will focus mainly on the techniques and skills that need to be mastered in order to obtain a PADI Open Water certificate. Aided by certified PADI dive instructors Alfredo Tapia and Jean Pierre Tapia, every student will demonstrate his ability to conduct the different scuba diving skills both on land and in water. Each skill will be thoroughly explained to the students before demonstrated in water. The skills will be first practiced in shallow waters, or confined water, and later on in deeper waters, also known as open water. In addition to the practical part, theory will also be conducted via textbooks and a video. An exam and several quizzes will be taken by each student at the end of the theoretical course to show they are ready to take on the open water. Finally, a knot-tying session will also be conducted to introduce students to very important maritime knots.

Come on out!

Alfredo Foundation invites all young or young-at-heart folks interested in learning how to swim with snorkel gear, participate in long distance swims and scuba diving to contact them. The foundation is currently preparing to start a new group of students around the end of April. The youths of St. Maarten are welcome to join this group. Classes are free of charge and the focus age group is 15-40. Send your contact information to: \n This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or visit the Facebook page: Alfredo Dive SXM to get more information. The course will take place every Sunday for six to eight months (depending on weather and holiday schedules) and the course will be divided into two parts: Swimming/snorkelling and scuba diving. Students are asked to come in their swimming gear every Sunday, as there will be some time doing in-water sessions.

On a side note, Alfredo Foundation is interested in purchasing used scuba/snorkelling gear at a low price and would be happy to receive donations as this will help with these free courses for the youth of St. Maarten.

Background

Alfredo Tapia has taught for approximately 28 years. For 21 of those years, he was a dive instructor in the Peruvian Navy Seals. He has been a champion in both swimming and diving nationwide, and has participated in four world championships and five South American championships. Alfredo: "We would like to thank all sponsors that support the Alfredo Foundation every year, together we keep succeeding and achieving with this positive activity for the youths on St. Maarten. NAGICO, ENNIA, Windward Islands Bank, Caribbean Accident and Road Services, and Parasailing for helping us store the material. I do this work for the foundation to thank the island of St. Maarten since this island gave me the opportunity that my country of origin did not, to have my family in a stable economic status. I consider this island as my paradise. In St. Maarten, everything is possible if one wants to work for it. My message to every student is that with a little bit of training and effort, they can achieve any goal."