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DAP Permanently part of U.S. Congressional Record
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ERROL DUPLESSIS
- Male
- Hampton, VA
- United States
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ERROL DUPLESSIS's Groups
ERROL DUPLESSIS's Discussions
Can African Americans Swim Well Enough to Save Themselves?
Started this discussion. Last reply by Tracey Friley May 2, 2011. 72 Replies 2 Likes
Welcome, Errol Duplessis
Profile Information
- Education Level
- Masters, Bachelors
- Education
- Private
- Swimming Level
- Yes - Competitive Level
- Aquatic Interest
- Competitive Swimming, Recreational Swimming, Lifeguarding, Swim Lessons, Scuba, Diving
- Aquatics Occupation
- Administrative, Competitive Coach, Instructor, Lifeguard, Other
- Aquatic Membership Affiliation(s):
- USA Swimming, Other Aquatic Association
- More about me:
- I am a retired master scuba diving trainer with the Professional Association of Diving Instructors. I am also THE retired CEO of Lake Rawlings, a scuba & camping park. With a few friends and relatives, we transformed a hole in the ground into the most visible and viable inland scuba park in the entire mid-Atlantic region. The scuba park no longer exists as Lake Rawlings. I am also a retired college professor. I served 21 glorious years at Hampton University as the Director of Aquatics. While there, I was able to expand the level of professional aquatic courses, to include WSI/LGI and scuba diving courses, and also gave counseling advice to assist students in forming a scuba club called the Underwater Explorers Club. The scuba club took annual scuba diving trips during spring break to the Florida springs & keys, or to Bimini in the Bahamas, and during the fall, to the off-shore wrecks of North Carolina and other close-by locations. I enjoyed teaching scuba diving to people who were comfortable in water, and swimming to people who need to know this skill for their enjoyment of water sport activities, or to save themselves in the event of an emergency. By circumstance and opportunity, I have probably introduced and or certified more African-American men and women into scuba diving than any scuba instructor, active or inactive, in the United States of America.
I have traveled to Europe (London,UK; Paris, France, Denmark, Belgium and Zurich, Switzerland), West Africa, Canada, the Caribbean, the Bahamas, Bermuda, Mexico, Peru and Brazil. As a dive leader, I have led expeditions to the Florida springs and keys, the Bahamas, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Barbados, BWI, Bermuda, Bonaire, the North Carolina shipwrecks, Bon Terre Mines (Missouri), Nova Scotia's Bay of Fundy, the Channel Islands of California and Cape Verde, Africa. I have dived all coastlines of the United States, and was once the divemaster for the New England Aquarium Dive Club of Boston, MA from 1978-1980.
I was happily married to Laurel Tucker Duplessis (48.9 years, now deceased). Laurel was from the Bronx, NY, and my nativity was in New Orleans, LA. We have two adult children, Lauren who lives in Walnut Creek, CA, with her boys, and Arem Khari who lives in San Francisco, CA (both are divers), with his family. I am blessed with five wonderful grandchildren (four grandsons and one very, very adorable and lovable granddaughter), and they are all future divers of America. And God willing, I am already looking forward to the day when I will be their first scuba instructor.
ERROL DUPLESSIS's Photos
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Lifting & Sinking of Blackhawk Down
Posted on October 19, 2011 at 8:36am 2 Comments 3 Likes
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I graduated HS in 1982 in Boston, and went to St. Paul's College in Lawrenceville, Virginia and a dear college friend was from WV....
Everytime I see the world's deepest indoor pool NEMO I wonder what scuba diving is like...
Keep up the great work!
oh. ok. I'm from NYC and i wanted to do this over the summer when I out of class. It's still something I want to do though.
Hey how do I sign up to start scuba diving where you are at? I would like to experience that.
Board MemberShaun Anderson said…
Thanks Errol, Great game....good to see them doing well. FYI..DAP should have some exciting announcements coming soon.
Errol, first thank you so much for your response to my call for support. To answer your question regarding the urgency at this time to raise funds for my documentary. I am raising "completion funds". Up until now I have been the sole financier of my documentary. To keep costs affordable, and to keep the project moving, I have worn all the hats associated with producing the project, including researcher, writer, producer, director, videographer, lighting, sound, and now I am sitting in the editors chair. As I approach the completion of the project, as much as I would like to be able to continue doing everything myself, which would relieve me of having to ask for support, I am going to need the services of other professionals to have a complete product in my hand. Those costs include color corrections and sound sweetening for the master, that requires another pair of editor eyes, and a sound tech, a studio. Also DVD authoring and duplication, sound doctoring and mixing. I could give you a complete laundry list, but hopefully this gives you an idea of the urgency. Thank you so much for your interest.
Blessings Naimah
Here's the link to my fund raising campaign site.
I hope the information there inspires you to make a donation to my cause
http://www.indiegogo.com/HOME-THE-GREAT-MIGRATION-OF-THE-21ST-CENTURY?a=162165&i=addr.
Errol...my wife is an alumnist of SU. We have many connections with SU as a result. I am an alumnist of USL, Lafayette,La.
Did you have any storm related issues as a result of recent storm activity on the eastern shore? Hope all is fine with you.
Be well,
DRV
Errol,
I live just west of Fort Lauderdale so the tri clubs here schedule open water swim sessions that work well.(I am a member of the Broward Barracuda's Tri Club) But as in your situation lakes here also are used for training as well as sprint distance tri races. So yes, to answer your question, a lake is fine for open water swimming as long as the water quality is acceptable and of course you might have to break out the wetsuits until the temperature comes up. Hope that helps.
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