Tennessee Cumming - youngest PADI Junior Master Scuba Diver

American Tennessee Cumming has become the youngest diver to hold the rank of PADI Junior Master Scuba Diver. The boy, who lives in San Diego, achieved this feat the day after his 12th birthday. To achieve this result, the whole family travelled together to Fiji, where Tennessee was able to complete his training on the Rainbow Reef.

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The final task for the PADI Junior Master Scuba Diver was to rescue an unconscious diver – played by his mother Allison – from a depth of 10 metres. Nicknamed ‘T’ by family and friends, he earned his new certification by diving at Korolevu, part of the Rainbow Reef off Fiji’s Taveuni Island.

His Tennessee diving adventure began at just 8 years old in 2012 with the Bubblemaker training program while on a family vacation in Bora Bora. Later came a move from Utah to San Diego, where the teenager continued to develop a new passion under the guidance of Bethy Discoll of the House of Scuba Dive Instructor school.

To earn his PADI Jr. MSD Tennessee, he conducted 50 open water dives and earned his Open Water Diver, Advanced Open Water Diver, current Emergency First Responder and Rescue Diver certifications and five specialties – Emergency Oxygen Provider, Equipment Specialist, Peak Performance Buoyancy, Boat Diver and Dry Suit Diver. In addition, he is also a certified NAUI Junior Night Diver.

According to his mum, all of this has helped him to cope with problems arising from ADD/ADHD and dyslexia.

“We knew it would be difficult for him, but we hoped it would work out nonetheless. Even though ‘T’ had never shown any interest in sport or physical activity. However, working with Bethy and diving has allowed him to develop in different fields and deal with many problems. He is now doing much better in school and is more communicative. His ability to express himself has also improved. Now my son is happier,” said Tennessee’s mother Allison.

Becoming the youngest PADI Junior Master Scub Diver, Tennessee took the title from UK-based Charlotte Burnes, who we wrote about here.

Source: californiadiver.com, deeperblue.com