Szilvia Gogh
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| "People told me I wouldn't be able to travel and scuba dive in exotic places, and the easiest way to get me to do something is tell me that I can't."|
Name:
Szilvia Gogh
Age:
31
Hometown:
Budapest, Hungary
Occupation:
Dive shop manager/Instructor
Favorite Dive Destination:
Lembeh Strait, Indonesia
Certified:
1991
Level of Certification:
Course Director
Growing up in communist Hungary, Szilvia Gogh's view of the world was limited to what lay behind the Iron Curtain--not exactly a hotbed of diving activity--and occasional National Geographic specials shown on state-run television. Those rare images of far-off, forbidden reefs captivated her, and at a young age, she made it her goal to see them one day.
When the Berlin Wall fell in 1989 and travel restrictions were lifted, the whole world opened up to Szilvia--literally--and in no time, she put her plans into action. During a summer in Malta, she earned her instructor certification, and within a year, she was managing a dive center in Thailand.
"As I traveled to different places, I found that women were never taken as seriously as the men," she says. "A lot of people think a girl who wears a red bikini and has a European accent can't be a good diver. They're wrong."
After moving to the U.S.--something unimaginable 20 years ago--Szilvia continued her dive training to become one of the youngest women ever accepted to PADI's Course Director program. As an instructor trainer, she's now seated firmly at the top of the scuba training food chain, and she's on a mission to get other women involved in the sport. Always proactive, Szilvia recently created a networking web site specifically for female divers called miss-scuba.com. She explains: "I want other women to see that if this girl from Hungary can make it in the dive industry, then anyone can." --Scott D. Jones
| | "People told me I wouldn't be able to travel and scuba dive in exotic places, and the easiest way to get me to do something is tell me that I can't."|
Szilvia Gogh
Age:
31
Hometown:
Budapest, Hungary
Occupation:
Dive shop manager/Instructor
Favorite Dive Destination:
Lembeh Strait, Indonesia
Certified:
1991
Level of Certification:
Course Director
Growing up in communist Hungary, Szilvia Gogh's view of the world was limited to what lay behind the Iron Curtain--not exactly a hotbed of diving activity--and occasional National Geographic specials shown on state-run television. Those rare images of far-off, forbidden reefs captivated her, and at a young age, she made it her goal to see them one day.
When the Berlin Wall fell in 1989 and travel restrictions were lifted, the whole world opened up to Szilvia--literally--and in no time, she put her plans into action. During a summer in Malta, she earned her instructor certification, and within a year, she was managing a dive center in Thailand.
"As I traveled to different places, I found that women were never taken as seriously as the men," she says. "A lot of people think a girl who wears a red bikini and has a European accent can't be a good diver. They're wrong."
After moving to the U.S.--something unimaginable 20 years ago--Szilvia continued her dive training to become one of the youngest women ever accepted to PADI's Course Director program. As an instructor trainer, she's now seated firmly at the top of the scuba training food chain, and she's on a mission to get other women involved in the sport. Always proactive, Szilvia recently created a networking web site specifically for female divers called miss-scuba.com. She explains: "I want other women to see that if this girl from Hungary can make it in the dive industry, then anyone can." --Scott D. Jones
