11/12/2023
Meet the Co-Directors!
American WaterSports Association (AWSA)
Presenters, Writers, Trainers, and Industry Consultants
Statement of Intent: To promote safety and excellence in the SCUBA industry, with focus on the cross-sport of PaddleSports Diving, through quality training and leadership.
Clark and Jean stopped in their tracks … one unique kayak and one manufacturer’s rep sat in a booth at the DEMA show, 1990. Tapping into their backgrounds as whitewater river guides and SCUBA Instructor Trainers, they immediately realized the potential of this revolutionary new sit-on-top, self-bailing craft for expanding diving adventures. Clark worked with the kayak manufacturer to design and produce the first-ever dive kayak, integrating utility features to meet the unique demands of the revolutionary craft for surface transport, diver independence, and safety support. He created the Kayak Diving Division of Ocean Kayak (originator of the sit-on-top kayak) and served as its Director. Jean, a lifetime educator, recognized that a cross-sport requires cross-competence; she developed the first kayak diving training and certification materials for the diving industry, merging skills of paddling and diving. They are now focusing on re-energizing the AWSA, to further integrate the SCUBA and paddlesports industries through training, product development, and exciting new PaddleSports Diving destinations. Most recently, they partnered with the paddlesports community to bring paddleboards into major dive industry shows. Their training now includes paddleboards, under the new title of “PaddleSports Diving.” Clark owned a river company, being one of the first licensed Lead Boatman and Jet-boat Captains on western whitewater rivers, and was a professional diver in the movie industry, as an underwater coordinator and stunt man. Jean¬, Ph.D. and Professor Emerita of Health Promotion, has been an All-American swimmer and D-1 coach, ARC Water Safety/Lifeguard Instructor Trainer, First Responder Trainer, ACA whitewater Canoe/Kayak Instructor, and AHA CPR/First Aid Instructor. Based on her pioneering efforts in women’s swimming and athletics, she was recently named to the Texas Swimming Hall of Fame. Clark and Jean are currently SCUBA Instructor Trainers/Course Directors for Scuba Educators International (SEI) and both are listed in Who’s Who of Scuba Diving. They serve as Co-Directors of the AWSA and their paddlesports diving expertise has been honed through lake dives, US coastal diving (all coasts), and manufacturer sponsored expeditions in the Caribbean, Sea of Cortez and Venezuela. They have trained numerous kayak divers, as well as Kayak Diving instructors, watersports industry manufacturers’ staff, dive shop staff, and resort guides.
Clark and Jean up-dated their original 1991 Kayak Diving Manual© to include paddleboard diving and surface supplied air – PaddleSports Diving: Mastering the Cross-Sports
Clark Ross Dr. Jean Henry Email: [email protected]
Originators of Kayak Diving © 1991 Text: (479) 856-2805
ABOVE AND BELOW …… THE BEST OF BOTH WORLDS!
