West Island School student becomes world’s youngest Junior Master Scuba Diver
Kala Sharpless earned the title from the Professional Association of Diving Instructors on her birthday, taking the title from someone who was 12 years and one day old when they earned theirs
Kala Sharpless is the world’s youngest Junior Master Scuba Diver. A 12-year-old girl has become the youngest ever Junior Master Scuba Diver. Kala Sharpless, 12, earned the title on August 13. This is the highest achievement that can be earned by any international young scuba diver, and the West Island School student earned hers from the Professional Association of Diving Instructors, the world’s largest diver training organisation.
The Junior Master Scuba Diver rating can only be earned by divers aged between 12-15, but less than 14 per cent of divers ever achieve it. Kala, on her birthday, passed the course by successfully completing the final task, which was locating and surfacing an unconscious diver single-handedly, and performing artificial resuscitation whilst ferrying them back to a boat.
Before Kala, the youngest person ever to gain this rating was Tennessee Cumming from Rancho Santa Fe, California, who was 12 years and one day old when he became a Junior Master Scuba Diver on May 16 last year.
Edited by Ginny Wong