Allen Sherrod's attempt to break the record for the Longest Salt Water Dive called on account of the weather.

He will try again on December 01, 2011.

It was a disappointment, however, due to rough sea conditions Allen's safety divers had to call off the attempt after less than 24 hours into the record setting event.  The good news is that everyone is really fired up over giving it another go, and Allen will be in the ocean once again from 10am Dec. 1st until 10am Dec. 4th. If you would like to see the news coverage of the record salt water dive attempt go to Channel 10 news Miami. They were with us from morning until night and even got some underwater footage.

The whole city of Lauderdale-By-The-Sea is behind Allen and they are already making great plans for Allen's return. If you want to watch the Dec. 1st historic event on web cam go to windjammerresort.com. They are our host resort. What a place. And they were there for us for whatever we needed. You can also go on Allen Sherrod's Facebook for play by play info.

Our host dive shop was Gold Coast Scuba. You can visit their site at goldcoastscuba.net. If you ever go to dive the shores there you must visit Steve, Brian and Dave. They will be glad to brief you or even take you on the dive. They make us feel like family from our first meeting and made sure we had all we needed including more safety divers.
 

If you are interested in supporting Allen's next attempt in any way, please contact Debbie or Allen at the shop.

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Allen Sherrod of South Lake Divers is the new

World Record Holder

for the Longest Fresh Water Dive

Friday, September 16, 2011 - 8:48:10 a.m.

Allen Sherrod receives oxygen after breaking the world record for longest freshwater dive. He spent more than five days underwater in Groveland's Lake David, from Sept. 11–16, 2011.

Did you ever wonder what to do with yourself on your day off?  Well Allen got this crazy idea to attempt to break the world record for the longest fresh water dive in Lake David which is located in Groveland, Fl.  Allen took to the water at noon on September 25th, 2010 with the intent to stay 120 plus hours underwater.  Well, after 111 hours, 9 hours short of the record Allen had to come up due to a sudden change in temperature that left him unable to stay warm and the concern of hyperthermia setting in.

Fast forward to September 11, 2011.

This year our world record dive attempt has taken on a whole new meaning. Allen will start his week long dive in Lake David in Groveland on September 11th at 8:46 AM. This is when a plane hit the first of two Twin Towers in New York City. We are working with David Sirak of Channel 9 News to bring this event and an event with the H2O Underwater racers at Weeki Wachee on Oct 7, 8, and 9 as events for the benefit of The Wounded Warrior Foundation. Our Warriors will be racing in the event at Weeki Wachee.  

Like last year we are looking for sponsors for the world record attempt to help cover needs of our safety divers and tee shirts that will be sold at the event. If you would like to donate anything to the event such as drinks, donuts or some of your time it will be greatly appreciated. A one hundred dollar donation from your business, group. family or individual will get your name on the back of a tee as a sponsor. We will have published listings of all participants, however, on different sights during and after these two events. All tee sales will go to the benefit of our Wounded Warrior program and any other donations not used during the support of Allen's dive team will be awarded to the Wounded Warrior Foundation during the Weeki Wachee race schedule. You can also make any donations to Allen to go directly to the Wounded Warrior Fund. 

Any divers interested in being safety divers for this event will be provided with all the free air they need and anyone else interested in diving to go visit Allen at any time can rent a tank for $5 each.  That will also be donated to our Warriors.  Allen will have many safety diver meetings at the shop and if you would like to sign up now as a safety diver, we have the sign-up sheet available at the shop. The safety meetings will be held every Wed. night at 6:30pm.  And if have any air tanks you can loan us during this event, we will give you a voucher for a free yearly inspection. Remember, there is a high probability that all divers will be exposed on the news. 

Allen's facebook address is Allen Sherrod and he has an event page there. 

We have our SCULS units available for sale also. This unit allows the user to talk to anyone around him or her under water. It also has an attachment where you can attach an MP3 player. We will will dedicate a percentage of all SCULS sales to the Wounded Warrior program. We are also donating a full unit to their dive program. It helps with their underwater training and they say they really like the music portion. The units come with the voice cylinder, tow-piece mask and case. These units are used for underwater instruction, photography, technical and cave, and family diving. To see the unit call Allen at 352-702-8676. He has been using the unit more recently to act as underwater commentator for the H20 races. They will also be used for an underwater news broadcast about the problem with the lionfish.

Anyone interested on any aspect of these two events please contact Deb at 352-702-8643. You can also text. 

News As Of September 07, 2011

The Groveland City Council has generously waived the fees for use of the building on Lake David. We will have a nice place to take breaks, store food, watch an underwater web cam of Allen, and make sure our visitors from the news media are comfortable. I guess I can tell you now that the news media loves to talk to the divers.

Thanks to many of you (and Brett S. again), we have plenty of air tanks for our two record breakers and the safety divers. There is always room for more.

Allen and Nicole are entering the water Sunday morning to start the dive at 8:46. It's a very impressive sight. Divers will escort them to the starting point and drop to 20ft and stay for 20 minutes making it an official dive. The divers look like they are truly on some kind of a mission. Allen and Nicole will then move to an area off of a pontoon boat and stay at 8ft.for the rest of their allotted time. Nicole will stay for 50 hours and Allen will stay until the coming Saturday morning and longer if the donations come in.

There will be a safety meeting tonight at 6:30. If you cannot attend we will be glad to sign you up for a safety position and brief you when you do, at your convenience.

News As Of September 06, 2011

We are now on the countdown to the World Record Dive Attempt.

Working with David Sirak and the channel 9 news team we are asking for donations during the event to go to the Wounded Warriors dive program out of Tampa. These divers pay their own way for dive training and the benefits to them are miraculous. You can go to Allen Sherrod's Facebook page and follow the progress and set up for the event.

We have three outstanding sponsors so far:

Jack's BBQ is sending meals for the safety team Monday morning the 12th. They served last year and WOW, it was wonderful.

Tim Johnson, Swim Director for the Ironman competitions countrywide provided two incredible banners to be displayed at the lake.  These aren't just any banners, They were made to and will draw some major attention.

Mary and Phil, owners of Florida From a Kayak, LLC will be on hand with their kayaks for trips around the lake and to assist divers.

We are also asking for the use of any air tanks for the event. A voucher for a free visual and fill be

issued for the use.

Allen is setting up an account for the proceeds for the event and his contact # is 352-702-8676.The account is called Dive For The Wounded Soldiers and is set up at Center State Bank. We are also asking for donations to the event in the way of drinks, and goodies for the divers like donuts, sandwich makings, ice and

Ensure for Allen.

Allen will be joined this year by Nicole who will attempt the Women's World Record break of over 50 hours. She has been training and helping with the underwater preparations. Did I mention that she is 17 years old. We know she will succeed.

The dive shop will be open from 10-12 only from Monday Sept the 12th through Sat. the 17th.

We still have room on the safety diver schedule and you can sign up anytime during dive shop hours. There will be a safety meeting this Wed night at 6:30. If you can't make the meeting Deb will brief you during the week. We will also have divers on hand at the lake to help out new safety divers and anyone wanting to dove with Allen and Nicole. There are no limits.

Please call 352-702-8643 for any information on this event.