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Scuba Diving Industry Salute Pioneers

International Scuba Diving Hall of Fame
Honors 2007 Inductees

Carl Roessler, Paul Humann, Hon. Charles E. Clifford,
Rodney Fox and Neville Coleman The International Scuba Diving Hall of Fame (ISDHF) has recognized international pioneers and local Cayman Island contributors for their contributions to the recreational scuba diving industry in a ceremony held on Grand Cayman Island in late January 2007.  Awards for the Inductees and local Ministry of Tourism Honorees were presented by the Hon. Charles E. Clifford, JP, Minister for Tourism, Environment, Investment & Commerce in Cayman.

The Honorable Minister praised the newest Inductees as dedicated and professional individuals who have taken their love for diving and applied it through various disciplines to promote awareness of the aquatic environment, maintain the admirable safety record of diving, and establish a foundation for the worldwide development of the sport.

The evening’s Master of Ceremonies was Stan Waterman, himself an Inductee (2000) and winner of five Emmy awards for his work in television.  Waterman is also renowned for his pioneer work in commercial film, and as director and producer of underwater films and photography.

International Inductees for 2007 are: Neville Coleman; Rodney Fox; Paul Humann; Carl Roessler; and Ralph Erickson.  The award winners received a unique Caymanite prize in the presence of family, friends and admirers at the Marriott Cayman Island Beach Club hotel.  All attendees were provided the opportunity to view a video biography of each Inductee, courtesy of Jack and Sue Drafahl of Image Concepts, media consultants to the ISDHF.  Videos of each Inductee from 2000 to 2007 can be viewed at: http://www.scubahalloffame.com/videobios.html.

Inductees provided remarks on their induction and each provided the 300 person audience with their own perspectives on their part in developing recreational scuba diving as a worldwide phenomenon.  A moving tribute by DEMA President Al Hornsby was paid to educator Ralph Erickson as Hornsby accepted the award for Erickson who sadly passed away in 2006.  Australians Neville Coleman and Rodney Fox each gave accounts of their amazing experiences in the diving community, and the unusual forces that drove them to succeed.  Inductee Paul Humann, an operator in the Cayman Islands in the early years of diving there, recounted the early times as he and 2000 ISDHF Inductee Bob Soto developed the very fabric of the sport in the Caymans.  Travel and photography expert Carl Roessler described the ground-breaking steps that he, his family, and his associates took to literally create specialty dive travel as we know it today.
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