Scuba diver takes a dip to celebrate a big birthday

Bob celebrating his 80th with an underwater plunge! Credit: BSCA

A scuba diver has celebrated his 80th birthday with a 60-minute underwater plunge, to mark a Suffolk Dive Club’s diamond anniversary.

Bob Kessler spent one minute underwater for every year there has been a British Sub-Aqua Club (BSAC) branch in his home town of Ipswich.

Great-grandfather-of-four Bob is the oldest active diving member of Ipswich

With a false hip and false knee, former Royal Navy sailor Bob said:

“I wanted to do something around the number 60 to mark the anniversary. Some of our members are doing 60 dives in different places, but I couldn’t do that - the mind is sharp but the body is weak! So I decided on this, it’s my 80th birthday and so I thought why not combine the two.”

Bob Kessler

Bob was joined by several other club members for his underwater challenge at Ipswich’s Fore Street Pool on Thursday January 28th, the day after his 80th birthday.

The group passed the time with an underwater game of cards, frisbee and swimming through hoops to show off their agility.

The group passed their time underwater by playing cards! Credit: BSAC

The photo taken with Bob will be included in an archive being collated to celebrate the club’s history.

BSAC is the national governing body for scuba diving and is made up of 120 dive centres and 1,000 plus clubs run by volunteers, up and down the country and abroad. The Duke of Cambridge is the club’s President.