Send us a text It is the little things that matter. Ask any performance athlete or engineer. Whether you are trying to squeeze the most speed out of your bicycle or motorcycle, or the best aerodynamics out of your Formula 1 car, the small things add up. The "marginal gains" movement has taken hold in performance sports over the past decade like never before, and now Jeff and Ben bring these concepts to scuba diving. What are the performance gains in diving? Less air consumption which leads to mo...
Sep 22, 2020•1 hr 5 min•Ep. 18
Send us a text Imagine yourself 100 meters underground, tucked into a little trolly, racing down rail tracks in an abandoned mine – bullets flying, snakes biting, the heroine captured, and time running out. That's mine diving. Except for the bullets, snakes, and heroine. But the rest of it is still there, sitting as it sat when the mine was closed and flooded years, sometime decades, ago. In this episode Jeff and Ben talk with UTD Instructor Casper Dreiøe and Marcin Wojturski, the head of the Tu...
Sep 01, 2020•53 min•Ep. 17
Send us a text The other day Ben and I were talking about upcoming podcasts, particularly the Obscure Questions episodes, then five minutes later we were talking about a student's question regarding flow checks – the process of confirming, both before and during the dive, that all your scuba tank valves are in the proper position – open or closed – as appropriate. That led to the idea that we could probably do a complete podcast episode on flow checks. So here you go. Everything you ever wanted ...
Aug 16, 2020•54 min•Ep. 16
Send us a text What's it like to coach scuba divers to meet their goals and aspirations? In this episode Jeff and Ben talk with UTD instructor and scuba coach Mike Brennan. Mike was one of the first UTD instructors to start coaching divers and has a unique and fascinating perspective on using coaching to train divers as opposed to a traditional short-term class. Unified Team Diving continues to break new ground as we develop new and better ways to train divers at every level – from the first ope...
Aug 16, 2020•1 hr 3 min•Ep. 15
Send us a text As we approach six months into the Covid-19 pandemic and lockdown restrictions, Jeff and Ben take a look at how UTD has modified in-water training to accommodate good public health practices while maintaining the core principles of Unified Team Diving's training.
Aug 08, 2020•42 min•Ep. 14
Send us a text Are you ready? When is the right time to take a UTD scuba diving class? From Extreme Scuba Makeover to Essentials to Tech and Cave, Jeff and Ben look at the question of, "When should I take my next class?" If you get to the end of this podcast and you are still not sure, contact us and we'll help . Contact us by clicking here....
Jul 13, 2020•59 min•Ep. 13
Send us a text What's it like being a UTD instructor candidate? After a week-long IDC, UTD CEO (and instructor trainer) Jeff Seckendorf sat down with the team to find out what if feels like on the other side. Six UTD instructors, instructor candidates, and students offer their honest expectations and experiences on the process, the prep, the diving, and the UTD culture. A rare opportunity to hear it from the inside. Learn more about the UTD instructor development program here: https://utdscubadi...
Jun 29, 2020•50 min•Ep. 12
Send us a text It's 2017 and a local dive shop owner has this crazy idea to build an eco park and scuba center at a quarry on a property that is an active mine. Join Jeff as UTD instructors Matt Skogobo and Zach Kennedy unfold the story of how the Juturna Springs Quarry is about to start hosting divers and dive classes from up and down the east coast of the U.S. And there's a C-130. And it's 220ft/67m deep. Check out Unified Team Diving at www.utdscubadiving.com . And Aquanautics at www.aqunauti...
Jun 26, 2020•1 hr 4 min•Ep. 11
Send us a text Weighting. And weight. Why we need weight, where to put it, when to ditch it, why not ankle weights, and lots more about this seemingly simple yet sometimes polarizing topic. Jeff and Ben answer your questions and find endless tangents about the how's and why's of weighting in scuba diving. Check out great training and scuba coaching at UTD Scuba Diving, www.utdscubadiving.com.
Jun 16, 2020•1 hr 1 min•Ep. 10
Send us a text In this episode Jeff, Ben, and Seattle Aquarium Dive Safety Officer Jeff Christiansen talk about the role divers play in educating aquarium visitors. Plus stories of diving and training in the exhibits as both kids and parents watch through the giant glass walls. To subscribe to the UTD online content that includes the Unified Team Diving Scientific Diving course, click here....
Jun 07, 2020•56 min•Ep. 9
Send us a text When UTD Scuba Diving reorganized in January 2020, we opted to move our online course content into a monthly subscription model. This gives every student access to every course we offer in their category. The benefits are huge, for both the student and the instructor. In this short, bonus podcast, we look at the model, the benefits, and more. Subscribe at www.utdscubadiving.com ....
Jun 01, 2020•9 min•Ep. 8
Send us a text We continue our discussion of scuba diving coaching with Jeff, Ben, and Alan. How does the Unified Team Diving coaching program work? How do you start? Why do we call you a scuba athlete? What are our expectations of you as a scuba coaching athlete? All this and a ton more. For more info on the UTD Scuba Diving program, click here. To contact us, click here....
May 28, 2020•49 min•Ep. 7
Send us a text A collection of random questions and more random answers: Why is nitrox a ridiculous gas? Why don't we use "team bailout" gas...why does each diver carry their own rock bottom? Why does Ben have a dry suit dump valve on his hood? And much more. Have an obscure question? Send it to us. www.utdscubadiving.com info@utdscubadiving.com
May 20, 2020•59 min•Ep. 6
Send us a text UTD CEO Jeff Seckendorf, Training Director Ben Bos, and head of the UTD Scuba Coaching Program Alan Weinberg talk about goals and training measurements. Is your goal a certification card? Or is it great training that can eventually lead to certification? And how do we measure your skill level? Most sports have some measurement – power, speed, efficiency – but our metrics in scuba diving are tricky. But, we have the answer! Check out Unified Team Diving's latest podcast in the scub...
May 08, 2020•1 hr 1 min•Ep. 5
Send us a text As we expand our dive coaching program at UTD Scuba Diving, we talk with former pro cyclist and owner of CINCH Cycling, Tom Danielson. Tom coaches world class athletes in cycling and other sports and gives us his take on integrating an athletic coaching model into Unified Team Diving's scuba training model. Find us at utdscubadiving.com Find Tom at cinchcycling.cc...
May 03, 2020•1 hr 4 min•Ep. 4
Send us a text Is public safety diving compatible with the scuba diving techniques we teach at UTD – team and situational awareness, proper trim and buoyancy, and non-silting propulsion techniques? Our guest is Shannon Buhl, UTD instructor and director of the Cherokee Nation Marshal Service. For close to 20 years Shannon has run a dive team that covers 9000 square miles in the middle of the United States. UTD CEO Jeff Seckendorf and UTD Training Director Ben Bos talk with Shannon about how he in...
Apr 20, 2020•1 hr 15 min•Ep. 3
Send us a text What's it take to cut huge ghost fishing nets off a reef or wreck? Or raise abandoned fishing traps lost on the ocean floor? Join UTD CEO Jeff Seckendorf, UTD Training Director Ben Bos, and UTD Instructor and long-time ghost net diver Kim Cardenas for a look at the training and skills needed to help rid the ocean of all this dangerous lost fishing gear. Check out UTD (and contact us) at utdscubadiving.com Check out Ocean Defenders at oceandefendersalliance.org...
Apr 07, 2020•39 min•Ep. 2
Send us a text There is side mount diving, and there is side mount diving. In this episode UTD CEO Jeff Seckendorf and UTD's training director Ben Bos talk with special guest Sherrie Gould about her experiences as a recreational side mount diver. It's no longer just a 'cave thing.'
Mar 30, 2020•36 min•Ep. 1
