World Scuba Record

[Mark Y]

Bluff City man tops himself, locks up world scuba record

Associated Press

HAMPTON, Tenn. — Jerry Hall had his recliner, a checkerboard, music and good friends to keep him company — all of it underwater. After five days, he emerged from Watauga Lake with a new world scuba record.

Then he cheerfully signed a pledge to his wife never to do it again. He said he also has played his last game of checkers.

''Everything was just perfect,'' Hall said. ''I had the easy job. It was my dive team that did all the work. I kept them hopping all the time, and they never once complained. Whatever I wanted or needed, they were there for me.''

Hall, 39, of Bluff City, Tenn., already is in the current edition of the Guinness Book of Records for staying underwater with scuba gear for 71 hours, 39 minutes and 40 seconds.

He surpassed that at 9:56 a.m. Wednesday and didn't leave the water until Friday morning with a record time of 120 hours, 1 minute and 25 seconds.

''I think he may do some diving in warmer water from now on,'' said his wife, Vicky. ''Right now, that knot in the pit of my stomach is gone, and I'm glad he's all right.''

Hall and his team of 10 divers had been training for this effort for a year, and they needed much more than just suits and tanks.

They used a special platform lowered to 13 feet below the surface. The recliner was harnessed to the dive deck. Hall passed the hours with a checkerboard made out of an aluminum plate, with five-eighths-inch metal nuts painted orange or yellow for the checkers.

''Everybody that came down there to play checkers beat me,'' Hall said. ''I'm giving them up.''

The other divers took turns keeping an eye on Hall for signs of hypothermia, which was warded off with water heaters. An underwater speaker broadcast either a local alternative radio station, or his MP3 player loaded with his harder-edged music.

''The D.J.'s would holler at me and stuff like that. They were great about keeping me entertained,'' Hall said yesterday. ''They were keeping me up with what was going on and talking to me. I didn't get tired of any of it.''

Hall used the recliner to nap for up to four hours at a time, and he passed his original goal of 94 hours, 9 minutes underwater on Thursday morning.

He also used a special moisturizer under his gloves to protect his hands. In his 2002 dive, he had pain in his extremities from the cold water. This time, he had normal use of his hands just six hours after leaving the water.

But Hall didn't take a week off just to stretch his record.

He wanted to draw attention to the clean lakes in northeast Tennessee, to promote scuba diving generally and to raise money for the Southern Appalachian Ronald McDonald House Charities. He was auctioning equipment from the dive yesterday at Fish Springs Marina in Hampton to fund the donation.

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Anyone care to try and top this next year? Jean, you seem to like being underwater. We could even surface supply the air for you through a garden hose! ;D

[MNLakeDiver]

and after 10 days with out smoking you could you could start putting cig money in to the scuba fund :