Shout Out to Rudi

With the loss of Gordon and Andre still fresh, it struck me how sad it is that we so often only get to sing someone's praises at their memorial.

Last night we had an instructors' meeting at Scubaversity, and I looked around the room and saw Rudi. There are other instructors who deserve their own shout-out too, and they'll get one — but today, this one's for Rudi.

If I had to pick a word for Rudi, “loyal” comes up first. Close behind it: committed, passionate, absolutely dependable in every way — and more than a little naughty.

Rudi became an associate at Scubaversity back in 2003 — almost 15 years ago now — and from day one he's been 100% committed. I haven't met many divers as passionate about scuba as he is. He will never, ever turn down a dive. Rain, hail, or possibly even a tsunami.

That passion has personally convinced hundreds of people to start their own diving adventure and join the Scubaversity family. His military background means his training is always safe, and his love for his own daughters makes him brilliant with kids.

That same discipline has shaped some of our best Divemasters — even if a few of them had murderous thoughts during his old stress tests. He acted those out so well that DMTs got a real taste of the stress a new diver feels, learning to cope with it while building real empathy for their future students.

His fun-loving, naughty streak has been a great source of entertainment over the years (and gotten him into plenty of trouble) — who else would pull off a full convoy stop on a sandy road between Ponta and Malongane, just to throw a party right there?

Everyone he's ever trained still asks after him whenever they visit the dive school. That, to me, is the real mark of a great instructor — if a student from 15 years ago still remembers your name, you made an impact on their life.

Thanks, Rudi, for sharing your passion with us and being such a loyal friend. We love you lots. Here's to the next 15 years — hopefully finishing them off together at the Scubaversity retirement resort in Ponta.

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