Teresa Telus - Britannic 98, Long Hang

Teresa Telus is one of the most experienced deep wreck-diving women in the world, and has been a key member of several major expeditions. In 2003 she dived RMS Britannic (120mtr), running longer bottom times than her male counterparts. She co-led an expedition to identify the pre-Dreadnought Duncan-class shipwreck HMS Russell in Malta. Part of a team exploring and filming the Lusitania, she has also joined expeditions to the Egypt, HMS Vandal and many others.

"Having tried several varieties, I have found that, for deep diving and long decompressions, O'Three Ri fabric suits are fantastic. They're robust, flexible and warmer than any tri-lam, giving me the security I need on a long dive."

Teresa's partner Kevin Pickering has accompanied her on many dives, he also wears an O'Three dry suit.

Darren Brown - Our Test Pilot

You can imagine the offers of "free help" we get with regards to testing new suits. Darren has been O'Threes "test pilot" for many years now...., why..., three reasons, the amount of dives Darren puts in, the abusive toll his type of diving takes out on the suit and his outspokenness.

Darren and his partner Annette, run a very niche, successful, 100% sustainable, traceable and wild food company supplying the Rich and Famous in the culinary world. Dived scallops are at the very heart of their business.

It's not unusual for Darren to log in excess of 300 dives per year. When we ask Darren to test a new suit / material, that suit will stay with him for at least a year. The quick succession in which those dives are done and the aggressive nature of diving for scallops commercially puts tremendous wear stress and strains on a suit.

"In this marketing driven world where the pressure to launch new materials and ideas annually is more important than the longevity of the end result, you can be sure that when O'Three launches a new suit, I've hammered it."

Mark Powell - Technical Diving Educator and Author

O'Three suits are ideal for technical divers. The flexibility of the suit allows me to reach my valves easily and the comfort is ideal on long dives. The made to measure service was ideal for me as it allowed me to get the suit made to my exact specification. All of this is topped off with the fantastic support that O'Three always provides.

Mark has been diving since 1987 and has been teaching since 1994. He has been a full time technical diving instructor since 2004 and teaches at all levels up to and including Advanced Trimix. He is a contributor to Sport Diver Magazine and has a monthly Technical feature discussing different aspects of technical diving. Mark represents TDI on the British Diving Safety Group as well as being a member of the Diver Training and Breathing Apparatus committees at the British Standards Institute. Mark has also served on the national executive of the Sub Aqua Association as well as being the Technical Diving Advisor to this agency.

In 2008 Mark published Deco for Divers, a widely acclaimed overview of the theory and physiology of decompression. This has quickly become the standard text on the subject and is recommended reading by a number of the technical diving agencies. In 2010 Deco for divers was awarded “Publication of the Conference” at the EuroTEK.10 technical diving conference. Mark’s passion is wreck diving and spends all his spare time diving the wrecks around the coastline of the UK. He firmly believes that the UK is the best country in the world for wreck diving although has also led expeditions to a range of other locations around the world

Kevin Rainford - Diving Instructor

Kevin leant to dive in 1995 after his first dip he decided that being under the water was much more fun than being above it! During the next 2 years he had completed over 350 dives and climbed both the BSAC and PADI ladders to Advanced Diver and Divemaster level. By 1999 with over 700 dives under his belt he passed his PADI IDC and started work as a diving instructor on the South Devon coast. In 2001 he learnt to dive on an Ambient Pressure Inspiration, which is now his preferred means of spending time under the water.

In the last 11 years Kevin has taught and assisted in the instruction of over a 1,000 divers varying from PADI Bubble Makers through to Closed Circuit Trimix divers. Apart from a 12-month spell in the Red Sea working as the diving operations manager for an award winning live aboard company the vast majority of his diving has been in UK waters.

He now runs his own company Inspirational Diver Training, located in Exeter Devon, but he regularly gets invites from divers to conduct training in Malta, Ireland and the Red Sea.

In 1998 he visited O'Three for a suit fitting where he met Sean and the love affair began!!! (With the Ri 2-100 suit that is) 12 years on and that love affair is still going strong. Kevin is currently diving in a 1.5mm Ri ccn suit combining it with an O'Three Heated Under Vest, he believes this is the best all year round option combining Ultra durable lightweight flexibility and instant added heat.

PDA - Professional Diving Academy

The Professional Diving Academy has a global reputation for running high quality Commercial Diver Training Courses. Established through real concern at the apparent shortfall in training standards, the PDA has gone on to develop ground breaking SQA Approved Construction and Inspection Diver Awards. These Industry Awards compliment the excellent HSE Approved Commercial Diver Training, and aim to ensure that every new diver graduating from the Professional Diving Academy is an immediate and highly employable asset for any recipient company.

There are also the equipment needs of the newly qualified diver and in this respect the PDA are truly unique by providing a superb free personal equipment package for their students. The main concern when outsourcing critical equipment products such as Drysuits, was ensuring that the PDA brand name for quality was maintained. It is therefore great testament to the standard of the MSF 500 that it is the Drysuit provided for any student doing a "Standard Career Package" at the Professional Diving Academy.

T: +44 (0)1369 701 701
www.professionaldivingacademy.com
info@professionaldivingacademy.com

Nina Presiner - World Record Deepest women 160m, Jolanda, Red Sea

The Jolanda 160 Project aimed to complete a safe and successful dive to a depth of 160 metres on the wreckage of the Jolanda.

The objective was to get the first footage of the Jolanda at depth since it sunk from its initial shallow resting place to 150m.

As a bonus it was discovered that by completing the dive, Nina Preisner would obtain the 'Women's Deepest Wreck Dive' a record, currently held by Adina Ochert with a previous dive to 144 mtrs on HMS Victoria also in an O'Three dry suit and before that the record was held by Christina Campbell when she scootered the huge bow section of RMS Britannic in 1998. Nina dived with her buddy, Neil Black who also wore an O'Three purchased several years earlier.

http://www.deepdives.co.uk/jolanda160.html

Paul Rose

I've been using dry suits since the early 1970's and without a doubt my O'Three dry suit is the best I have ever had.

I said that the day I tried it for size at Portland as it immediately felt right. Since then I've used it constantly for presenting my BBC series Oceans and Britain's Secret Seas and it's given me great service.

From the Southern Ocean to under ice in the Arctic and all round British waters the suit has been flawless.

Martin McGrath - Professional Diver and Expedition leader

Martin is a full time professional diver. Originally from the North East of England, he began diving whilst still studying for his degree.

On a trip to see his Sister who was working in the Arabian Gulf, he decided that the Expatriate life was for him, and it took him more than 25 years to return home! He freely admits to not being able to "Walk past a puddle without wanting to get in it to see what's at the bottom of it" and thinks that the North and South Polar regions are one of the best places on earth to do it.

He has done more than 8000 dives in a career lasting more than 25 years. He is a PADI Master Instructor, a BSAC Advanced Instructor and an HSE Commercial diver. He works as a safety and support diver for TV and Media crews in extreme environments.

He has speciality instructor rating in more than 17 disciplines, and he is also a qualified skipper with sea survival and VHF qualifications. He is an emergency first response instructor trainer and a scuba technician.

He has dived in Antarctica, Australia, Scapa Flow, UK, Norway, France, Spain, Sicily, Beirut, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Oman, Caribbean, Indian Ocean, South Africa, Mozambique, Maldives and the Galapagos Islands.

He has owned his own dive centre in the UK for the last 5 years, but now devotes his time to safety and expedition diving.

"I'm in a fortunate position to have a choice of several dry suits. I've had a long term relationship with O'Three, they understand that in certain situations I'm obliged to where other suits. Over the years my diving has evolved where remote destinations with extreme conditions are the norm. For the last fifteen years when it matters, there's only been one suit for me..., O'Three.

Heriot Watt Scientific Dive Team

We are a diverse and forward thinking dive team which is dedicated to researching the important questions about our marine world. Our highly qualified team of 9 divers have over 100 years of diving experience between them.We work on a range of projects, some taking us to distant locations such the Arctic, the Antarctic and Central America; but all our work always maintains a strong UK focus. Between us we cover topics such as biogenic and artificial reefs, climate change impact studies, marine protected areas, fisheries research, biotechnology innovations from marine invertebrates, environmental monitoring and sea-cave investigations. We collaborate with prestigious organisations from both the UK and the rest of the world and are well respected scientifically.h East of England, he began diving whilst still studying for his degree.

Meet the team...