Stephanie Tintel is a PhD researcher at imec-SMIT-VUB and teaching assistant within the Communication Sciences Department of the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB) where she assists methodology courses (quantitative and qualitative). Her PhD research is focused on the measurement and economic valorization of the audience in relation to the audiovisual (film) industry. She is further specialized in economic impact assessment studies within audiovisual industries.
When and how did you start with scuba diving?
I did my first official dive in April 2009 in a 30-metre-deep pool in Brussels called ‘NEMO 33’. My first real outside dive was in June 2009 in a quarry called ‘Dongelberg’ in the French speaking part of Belgium. I was only 16 years old then. I dived for 2 years in 2009 and 2010 and then I stopped. I restarted in 2018 around the time when I started my PhD. The reason why I started scuba diving is rather obvious. My parents met each other while scuba diving. My father was my mother’s instructor and taught her how to scuba dive. “We fell in love under water”, my mother told me once. Since my parents are both divers, it would have been weird if my sister and I didn’t start scuba diving ourselves. Today, my father and I are the only active scuba divers in the family.
What would you say is your biggest achievement so far? What is the maximum depth you have dived to? At what depth does it usually get uncomfortable or challenging?
Scuba diving isn’t a competitive sport. It’s not about being the fastest, most daring or most adventurous scuba diver. Scuba diving is about surviving in an environment which is, without the right equipment, unlivable for a human being. You force yourself to explore a space which is unnatural to you. To be able to do this, you need a good sense of responsibility, organization skills and communication tactics because scuba diving entails many risks, like decompression sickness, arterial air embolism, drowning, ... All of the health risks, remedies, organization and communication skills we learn during trainings.
I’m certified to go to 30 metres meters. My next certification will let me go to 40 meters. But from 40 metres, you can start to experience nitrogen narcosis which is comparable to the feeling of drunkenness. It can cause a temporary reduction of reasoning, decision making and motor skills. Another difficulty is finding your way under water. There is no Google Maps to show you the way, but a briefing beforehand and a compass to give you direction. Also, the more experience you gain, or the more certified you become, the more responsibility is expected of you. I always have to dive with somebody with a higher certification level than me, but when I get my next certification level, roles can be switched. I will be allowed to dive with somebody who has less experience than me. There are many challenges, and they go from planning your dive, to getting your tank on and off your back, to looking for octopus in between rocks. But the real challenge for me is to be able to completely clear my mind when I’m under water.
I do scuba diving to escape the everyday world, to literally go beneath the surface where I leave my worries and thoughts just for a while. To me, scuba diving is the only activity that enables this feeling since it demands a lot of concentration and attention. In a way, scuba diving is a kind of mindfulness. When I had a good or successful dive, I was able to reach that state of complete tranquility. Next to the obvious of course: that everybody comes back up safely.
In what ways is scuba diving complementary to your academic career? And are there perhaps any similarities in those two "adventures"?
Scuba diving works with certification levels. The higher your certification level, the more of an experienced diver you become. And by experience, I mean that you start to carry responsibility not only for your own safety, but also for your scuba buddy or buddies. You always have to dive with a buddy, you never go alone. On the other hand, a higher certification level also means you are allowed to do more under water: you can go deeper. This means you can discover more but your dives will be more difficult. For example, ship wrecks are mostly found at depths of 40 to 50 metres. Dives like this need careful planning because the deeper you go, the more you become under pressure and thus the more your health is at risk. With my current certification level, I’m only allowed to go to 30 metres. But who knows, maybe in a few years, you might find me exploring sunken ships in the Black Sea and Caribbean.
In academia you grow in a similar way: effort enables. With every new research project, new paper or new course I teach, I delve deeper into the world of academia. While I grow personally, I’m also enabled to grasp more of a new world. This is the same for scuba diving: with every new certification level (for which you do tests both theoretical and practical), I’m allowed to explore more. Right now, I feel myself exploring two worlds at the same time: the underwater world and the world of knowledge creation, but without any efforts. Both scuba diving and academia work around this idiom: “there ain’t no such thing as a free lunch”. Everything is a trade-off: no further exploring without investing.
Does doing scuba diving conflict with your academic work, such as missing deadlines or having to choose between events?
It’s all about planning. Both academia and scuba diving demand rather good organization skills. When I have a deadline for my work, I plan to make sure I get it done in time. The same goes for scuba diving, I have to make sure I get my tank filled in time and I have to check all my diving equipment at least a day before. Scuba diving needs careful preparation and the same goes for my work. I think I had to cancel once on a dive, because I wasn’t finished with my work. I hate to cancel on commitments, in particular when this affects other people. But whenever I feel that I will be too busy with something else, I just say that I won’t be joining, instead of saying I will join, but then having to cancel. It’s really annoying for the diving organizer to get last minute cancellations. So no, it doesn’t conflict with my academic work. I think scuba diving trains my organization and communication skiIls more than I am aware of. Scuba diving and academic work rely on similar skills. In that sense, I would say scuba diving benefits my work not only because of the skills I gain, but because diving makes me feel “refreshed” in terms of having a clear mind with new ideas.
Would you recommend scuba diving to other academics?
Yes, I would definitely recommend scuba diving to other academics. However, it’s not a sport for just anybody. Often when I talk about it, the first reaction is always “Oh no, that’s not for me!” I’ve always wondered, why? I was already comfortable from the very beginning because of the very obvious reason: I love the water. On the other hand, I was a little uncomfortable during my first dive in the dark because I couldn’t orientate myself and I could only see one metre in front of me. Everything takes time and practice, with scuba diving as well as with my work, but it’s important that your heart is in it in the first place. The underwater world is truly magical. The experience of only hearing your own breath, the inability to speak and the feeling of flying through space are extremely satisfying. If you would like to clear your mind and feel free, scuba diving is the sport to do. And one last thing, I don’t only see the perks of being a scuba diver in my work but also in my way of going through life.
Jacques Yves Cousteau was nothing but right: “The sea, once it casts its spell, holds one in its net of wonder forever.”
PS. My next scuba diving trip will be in Bonaire, an island in the Dutch Antilles: turtles, manta rays, dolphins, eagle rays, octopus, moray eels, sea cucumbers, and whale sharks, here I come!
Photos: Personal archive of Stephanie Tintel.
