Scuba Diving
Supa ScubasBY Cooper Kunkel
Scientifically speaking, humans cannot breathe underwater, but for the Hill brothers, this does not matter. Senior Landon Hill, the oldest of the five brothers, (three of whom attend Rose High School) has been scuba diving for two years. He has dived into the blue waters of several quarries and shipwrecks.
“I’ve been diving in Atlantis, Cozumel Mexico, Wrightsville, the Grand Caymans and a few other places,” Hill said. The younger two brothers at Rose, junior Foster Hill and freshman Sterling Hill, have accompanied their brother Landon on multiple dives to places such as Wrightsville and Atlantic Beach. “My favorite trip is when we went to a quarry up in Wake Forest,” Sterling Hill said. “We played underwater basketball with a medicine ball, and I was pretty good at it.” According to Foster Hill, all three of the brothers are certified scuba divers. They completed a process that took a week and a few night classes. Landon Hill said that their father David Hill has also learned to scuba dive, and loves to use this activity for some quality father-son bonding. “I mean it’s pretty chill just hanging out with the fam, and the fact I’m the best at it just makes it even more fun,” Foster Hill said. Being able to scuba dive is something most people will never have the opportunity to do. Scuba diving can also be very dangerous; if a diver swims up too fast they can get what is called the “bends,” or otherwise known as decompression sickness. This is when the body can’t handle the quick change in water pressure, causing someone to pass out, or in rare circumstances, die. This is one of the reasons why someone must take the class to become scuba diving certified. Injuries can be common in this activity, and also very severe. “I mean we’ve had minor injuries, but that’s just from us joking around and stuff,” Foster Hill said. The brothers say scuba diving gets very competitive among them. Between the underwater basketball and the competition to see who can go the deepest, there is not much time to peacefully swim around. The trio of brothers also enjoy saying derogatory comments to one another during these dives. “If you’re gonna talk trash, you might as well back it up,” Foster Hill said. “Obviously I’m the best at underwater basketball, and I’ve gone deeper than them by about two meters.” Not all of the brothers just scuba dive for the competition, the eldest brother enjoys looking at underwater ships and natural reefs. He uses scuba diving as an escape from the outside world, a place where he can go and explore the unknown. “While Foster and Sterling are off balling, I’m usually with the old man exploring sunken ships and other things,” Landon Hill said. “I just feel like when they mature some more, they’ll understand the real reason for scuba diving.” With Foster Hill enjoying the competition between the brothers, and Landon Hill being into exploring, that leaves the youngest brother. Sterling Hill has found a different love for the sport, one that is more emotionally deep than the others. “Whenever I’m in school and stuff I’m kinda shy, but when I go scuba diving It’s like a different world.” Sterling Hill said. “It just changes my personality.” All of the brothers do it for different reasons, but still love it the same. This sport has truly brought them closer as a family. “Scuba diving isn’t just a sport,” Landon Hill said. “It’s a lifestyle.” |
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