One of the Pacific Northwest’s diving pioneers from the early days of Pacific Northwest Diving. A “Pioneer” is a trailblazer that has the courage to explore the unknown. Spence Campbell is certainly a diving pioneer and has blazed many trails for the rest of us to follow. Since the late 1950’s, Spence has served the diving community in a variety of capacities including local diving instructor, commercial diver, commercial diving supervisor, scientific diver, diving physiology researcher, research diver, diving educator, past president of Washington’s Council of Skin-diving clubs. NAUI dive instructor – 35 years.
Spence Campbell
His trails include tackling challenges in commercial hard-hat diving on dams at high elevations that increased the risk of the bends. He developed the Virginia Mason Hospital Hyperbaric and Diving Research Laboratory program in Seattle. Years later he welcomed the challenge of developing the protocol to conduct stainless steel, wet welding in a nuclear reactor, training a team of underwater welders and led them to a successful mission inside of a nuclear reactor. Spence has lectured on many diving topics including diver reflex technique for free diving.
But that is not what defines Spence Campbell. His true value to the diving industry is his ability to educate, inspire, motivate and mentor new divers as they work their way toward the pursuits of their personal goals. Spence became my friend and mentor in 1971 as he guided me through one of the greatest challenges of my live, a NAUI Instructor Training Course. Over the years I’ve met many of Spence’s protégés, and we all have the same respect and gratitude for the efforts that he made to push us up the ladder. Spence loves a challenge, and he loves to challenge others. He has a “you can do it” attitude that has guided many people to achieve much more than they could ever imagine.
