50 Years of Diving Excellence with Aquatic Sports

October 8, 2020

Aquatic Sports Has Been with SSI Since the Beginning.

As SSI celebrates its 50th Anniversary, we also celebrate the relationships forged along the way that have helped shape us into the largest professional business-based training agency in the world. Today, we are celebrating Aquatic Sports.

The day SSI began in 1970, we set out to do something different...

To establish a unique culture of dive professionals that genuinely cared about the quality of divers we created, not the quantity. That philosophy is still the pillar of our educational model, and since those early times, we have branched out into every aspect of underwater recreation:

• Scuba diving.

• Extended Range.

• Freediving.

• Mermaiding.

• Swimming.

• Lifeguarding.

READ MORE ABOUT SSI'S JOURNEY AND THE 50TH ANNIVERSARY DIGITAL SCUBA DIVING PROGRAM.

Now with over 3,300 Training Centers and Resorts worldwide, SSI continues to grow every day.

Of these thousands, one center stands out in terms of longevity and loyalty to the SSI brand: Aquatic Sports. The first scuba training facility in Oregon and the oldest dive facility in Portland, Aquatic Sports & Scuba Schools, has been with SSI since day one! Owner Jeff Powelson recalls that his father, John Powelson, was the FIRST dive instructor for SSI when he opened Aquatic Sports in 1966. Since its beginning, Aquatic Sports has partnered with SSI, even conducting the first-ever SSI scuba instructor program on the Oregon coast at Devil’s Punchbowl. When asked if he’d ever considered switching to another training agency, current owner Jeff Powelson states that: "SSI is in our blood. Since our family was at the beginning of SSI, there’s never been a reason to switch. SSI today provides us with all the tools and assets we need to be successful in the diving industry." Today Aquatic Sports loves nothing more than introducing divers to the 75% of the world that most people never get to see. And we love nothing more than helping SSI dive centers do just that! With successful, committed, and loyal Training Centers like Aquatic Sports by our side, the next 50 years of SSI will be just as great, if not better than the first. READ MORE: WELCOME TO PARADISE - BIKINI ATOLL DIVING 101.