Nyle DiMarco partners with PADI to promote inclusivity in open water diving
DiMarco recently got his PADI license after training with Thomas J. Koch, the first deaf PADI course director
By Gary Grimes
Former America’s Next Top Model star Nyle DiMarco can add another title to his already impressive resumé, as the model and actor is now a certified open water diver.
DiMarco, who is deaf, recently partnered with the Professional Association of Diving Instructors (PADI) to get his Open Water Diver certification in Florida where he trained with Thomas J. Koch, the first Deaf PADI Course Director and founder of Aqua Hands, the world’s only deaf-owned dive company.
The partnership aims to show how the underwater “embraces inclusivity”, as DiMarco and Koch used American Sign Language (ASL) alongside universal dive signals to show how scuba “transcends communication barriers and creates a space where everyone can belong, no matter how they identify or communicate.”
“Above water, as a deaf person, I am always seen as the one who is ‘unable to communicate’ with others. But underwater? Everything changes,” DiMarco said, speaking exclusively to Attitude after completing his course.
“While training in the sea, I noticed something hilarious: hearing instructors couldn’t quite teach other hearing divers underwater,” DiMarco went on. “They’d start the dive, try gesturing/miming instructions but it rarely worked. Within minutes, their students would look confused and everyone would swim back up to surface so the instructor could talk. Then they’d dive again… then everything would repeat.
“I watched them go back up and down and again like an elevator. Their learnings and hands-on experiences are cut short.”
The model explained that watching the other students struggle to communicate made him realise he was at an advantage when it came to communicating underwater.
“Meanwhile, Thomas Koch, the founder of Aqua Hands and the only PADI Deaf course director in the world, and I? We stayed underwater the whole time. Zero surfacing. No interruptions. He was able to explain techniques, correct my form, and walk me through each drill… all in ASL… in real time… many feet deep.”
He continued: “It was seamless. And honestly, the underwater felt like our turf!”
Also an Academy Award nominee for his 2021 short film Audible, DiMarco recently co-directed the Apple TV documentary Deaf President Now about the historic Gallaudet University protests.