Watersports blog

After several hours of intense search, divers found the body of 25-year old Sean Patrick Spiegel who was reported missing since Saturday at the Forth Fathom Grotto in Marion County, Florida.

According to the authorities, Spiegel’s body was found in one of the caves at around 8 pm on Sunday. They said that his body was intact and will undergo medical autopsy in order to determine the real cause of death. Spiegel’s diving equipment was also taken as part of the investigation.

Spiegel and four of his friends reportedly stayed at a rented log cabin nearby. They group had their diving adventure on Saturday morning, going as deep as 104 feet. Instead of going with the group in their ascent above water, Spiegel signaled that he still has six minutes remaining and would like to continue diving. That’s the last time they saw Spiegel.

More than 10 divers were hired to do the comprehensive search but encountered no results early on.

Spiegel is said to be an experience scuba diver. This pronouncement prompted the authorities to conduct an investigation for possible foul play.
As of press time, Spiegel’s friends decline to give comments.

The recent fall of the US Economy as well as several other economies around the world is impacting Scuba Diving Tourism. Several Tourism in Australia and other parts of the world have closed their scuba diving tours. Rising fuel costs, diminished interest and global economic instability are to blame for this event.

Australia is home of the Great Barrier Reef. It is one of the most alive and intriguing scuba diving spots in the entire world. Divers come to the Great Barrier Reef hoping to see marine life at its best. That is why, it is a sad occasion to see scuba diving tourism in this area slowly ebb away. Of course, interest in the Barrier Reef and scuba diving in general will never cease. It is only experiencing a minor set back that tourist operators hope will revert as soon as the economy gets back on its feet.

One of the affected business include Townsville’ Sunsea Cruises in north Queensland. Australia. Operator Darin McDonald says that he has to close trips to the Great Barrier Reef because people are getting more cautious about taking scuba diving holidays because prices are going up. He says that cancelling the tours was a hard decision.

“It’s certainly been a gut-wrenching exercise,” Said McDonald. “We can’t continue to make the losses we have on this operation. We’ve looked at other options of how we can save this business. But realistically, we can’t see any other option but to have to close the doors.”

Olympic diver and gold winner Matthew Mitcham has singed with Grand Slam International on September 19, 2008. By joining the managing firm, Mitcham joins the ranks of other Olympic divers, swimmers and other athletes. Some of the Olympic athletes represented by Grand Slam include Olympic swimmer Ian Thorpe and Olympians Torah Bright, Steve Hooker, Alisa Camplin and Leisel Jones. The firm also represents Marcos Ambrose. Ambrose is a famed NASCAR driver.

MIthcam’s Olympic diving win was a historical one. The young diver managed to get a score of 112.10 for a perfect 10m dive. No other diver in Olympic History has gotten a score that high for a single dive. Not only did his score secure the gold, it also prevented the Chinese team from dominating in the Olympic diving category.

The director for Grand Slam International says that they are thrilled to have Mitcham aboard, “Matthew is an outstanding young athlete whose performance in Beijing was breathtaking.” Said Grand Slam director David Flaskas, “He acted with great modesty and sportsmanship in light of his success and that has endeared him to all Australians,” He also added that, “We (Grand Slam International), very much look forward to supporting Matthew. He has further ambitions in his sporting career including the 2010 Commonwealth Games and the 2012 London Olympics.”