{"id":153,"date":"2020-01-10T12:13:20","date_gmt":"2020-01-10T19:13:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/csun2020.nextgenradio.org\/?p=153"},"modified":"2020-01-10T14:38:35","modified_gmt":"2020-01-10T21:38:35","slug":"diving-in-the-deep-just-like-james-bond","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/csun2020.nextgenradio.org\/diving-in-the-deep-just-like-james-bond\/","title":{"rendered":"Diving in the deep \u2026 just like James Bond"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-audio alignleft\"><audio controls src=\"https:\/\/csun2020.nextgenradio.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/28\/2020\/01\/Elaine.mp3\"><\/audio><figcaption>Irish scuba diver John McFadden shares his story of arriving in the U.S. after spending a decade in Saudi Arabia.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-drop-cap\">John McFadden knows the exact moment he wanted to become a scuba diver \u2014 at the age of 10, while watching \u201cThunderball,\u201d the 1965 James Bond movie.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cIn fact, I contacted people to find out how I could buy the wetsuit that James Bond wore during the movie,\u201d McFadden said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It wasn\u2019t until five years later at age 15 that McFadden took his first dive in the frigid waters of the Irish Sea: \u201cIt\u2019s not a very nice experience,\u201d he said, but he was hooked. Yet McFadden started his work life as a medical photographer, not in the water.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"alignright size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"683\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/csun2020.nextgenradio.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/28\/2020\/01\/John_Headshot-683x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-155\" srcset=\"https:\/\/csun2020.nextgenradio.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/28\/2020\/01\/John_Headshot-683x1024.jpg 683w, https:\/\/csun2020.nextgenradio.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/28\/2020\/01\/John_Headshot-200x300.jpg 200w, https:\/\/csun2020.nextgenradio.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/28\/2020\/01\/John_Headshot-768x1152.jpg 768w, https:\/\/csun2020.nextgenradio.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/28\/2020\/01\/John_Headshot.jpg 1000w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 683px) 100vw, 683px\" \/><figcaption><br>John McFadden outside the PADI Americas office in Rancho Santa Margarita, California. <em>(Photo by Elaine Sanders)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>His career took him to a teaching hospital in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, a country renowned for its gorgeous coral reefs and 100 foot visibility. The diving was easy; the catch was getting there. \u201cYou couldn\u2019t move around freely,\u201d McFadden recalled, he had to apply for a permission letter from his employer in order to travel inside the country. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Despite this challenge, McFadden became a scuba instructor and \u2014 during his free time \u2014 taught hundreds of students how to dive in the Red Sea. McFadden went one step further. He became certified to train instructors through a program with the Professional Association of Diving Instructors (PADI), the world\u2019s largest scuba diving training organization. \u201cThen I realized that I was really, really interested in doing this &#8230; as a career.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"alignleft size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"683\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/csun2020.nextgenradio.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/28\/2020\/01\/05-683x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-160\" srcset=\"https:\/\/csun2020.nextgenradio.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/28\/2020\/01\/05-683x1024.jpg 683w, https:\/\/csun2020.nextgenradio.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/28\/2020\/01\/05-200x300.jpg 200w, https:\/\/csun2020.nextgenradio.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/28\/2020\/01\/05-768x1152.jpg 768w, https:\/\/csun2020.nextgenradio.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/28\/2020\/01\/05-1024x1536.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/csun2020.nextgenradio.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/28\/2020\/01\/05-1365x2048.jpg 1365w, https:\/\/csun2020.nextgenradio.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/28\/2020\/01\/05-1200x1800.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/csun2020.nextgenradio.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/28\/2020\/01\/05-scaled.jpg 1707w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 683px) 100vw, 683px\" \/><figcaption>Sharks in the Red Sea off the coast of Sudan, where Jacques Cousteau built his marine habitat. McFadden took this photo on a two week trip while living on a boat and diving every day. <em>(Photo courtesy of John McFadden)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>At the time, the two best scuba training facilities in the world were located in Florida. McFadden and his wife decided that after a decade of living in Saudi Arabia, it was time for a change, both in culture and career. So the two of them made the move to Florida in 1998. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI would say that you experience reverse culture shock when you return back to a western country,\u201d he said. \u201cThat\u2019s exactly what we experienced, I think. But it was a very, very pleasant shock.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>After a few years in Florida with the luxury of diving four or five times a week, McFadden accepted a job at PADI\u2019s world headquarters in Rancho Santa Margarita, California. He is currently working as a quality management consultant, where he makes sure PADI scuba instructors are teaching up to standard. He considers himself an Irish-American and got his U.S. citizenship \u201csince this is now my home,\u201d said McFadden.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Even without knowing it, McFadden\u2019s journey was always about the diving. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-media-text alignwide has-media-on-the-right is-stacked-on-mobile is-vertically-aligned-center\"><figure class=\"wp-block-media-text__media\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"658\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/csun2020.nextgenradio.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/28\/2020\/01\/01-658x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-156\" srcset=\"https:\/\/csun2020.nextgenradio.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/28\/2020\/01\/01-658x1024.jpg 658w, https:\/\/csun2020.nextgenradio.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/28\/2020\/01\/01-193x300.jpg 193w, https:\/\/csun2020.nextgenradio.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/28\/2020\/01\/01-768x1195.jpg 768w, https:\/\/csun2020.nextgenradio.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/28\/2020\/01\/01-988x1536.jpg 988w, https:\/\/csun2020.nextgenradio.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/28\/2020\/01\/01-1317x2048.jpg 1317w, https:\/\/csun2020.nextgenradio.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/28\/2020\/01\/01-1200x1866.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/csun2020.nextgenradio.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/28\/2020\/01\/01-scaled.jpg 1646w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 658px) 100vw, 658px\" \/><\/figure><div class=\"wp-block-media-text__content\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-pullquote\"><blockquote><p>\u201cThe feeling of weightlessness is really amazing. Plus, there\u2019s so, so many wonderful creatures to see underwater. It\u2019s something you just can\u2019t experience any other way.\u201d<\/p><cite>John McFadden<\/cite><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figcaption><p>John McFadden diving outside the mouth of a reef cavern on one of his many trips to the Red Sea. <em>(Photo courtesy of John McFadden)<\/em><\/p><\/figcaption>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group alignfull bigembed\"><div class=\"wp-block-group__inner-container is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/uploads.knightlab.com\/storymapjs\/ab614dddb1f75dbfea088ae83ce97163\/john-mcfaddens-journey\/index.html\" width=\"100%\" height=\"800\" frameborder=\"0\"><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>How a 1965 movie set one man on a course for life in the water.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":277,"featured_media":168,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"coauthors":[5],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/csun2020.nextgenradio.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/153"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/csun2020.nextgenradio.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/csun2020.nextgenradio.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/csun2020.nextgenradio.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/277"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/csun2020.nextgenradio.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=153"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/csun2020.nextgenradio.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/153\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/csun2020.nextgenradio.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/168"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/csun2020.nextgenradio.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=153"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/csun2020.nextgenradio.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=153"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/csun2020.nextgenradio.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=153"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/csun2020.nextgenradio.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=153"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}