Mike grew up in Baltimore, Ohio. He earned his Open Water certification in 1994. His aunt and uncle had him in the pool on SCUBA when he was 10 years old – he says that the rest is history. His favorite dive course he has taken so far is the Sidemount course. He liked it because it was very labor intensive and required the whole weekend to fine tune its use, and the repetitive skill work made for an exciting course. He enjoys being a divemaster and loves to take care of students above and below the water to help make the instructor’s job easier.