December Highlight on Mike McGuire, Freshwater Spearfishing Ambassador
This Month Surf-fur highlights Mike McGuire, Chairman of the Rocky Mountain Spearfishing Association, Team USA Freshwater Spearfishing Coach, and Fresh Water Spearfishing Ambassador to the world (Whose focus is to get everyone involved in diving and spearfishing WorldWide!), and of course Surf-fur Ambassador!
In March Mike McGuire flew with 14 other divers to represent the USA at Freshwater Worlds in Spearfishing in New Zealand. Here is the story as told by Mike!:
What a great experience. The land, the water, the beaches, the jungles, the fish, the culture, and the hospitality were all way above anything I expected.
The event was 2 days in a Huge lake in the center of the north island call Lake Taupo. We speared only small catfish but the competition was super strong with teams from 7 countries. As the event finished up my daughters, Savanah and Cathy, were the only Americans to place for trophies for the USA. This was Savannah's 2nd world event and 2nd trophy in a world event.
After the event we played around the north island for 2 weeks and got to see one of the most amazing places on earth. It is truly an adventure playground and was made just for me. New Zealand is a must do for everyone, and plan at least 3 weeks.
New Zealand was very special for me as I got to dive with the world famous Ralph Tieman, although neither of us did very well at this world event. The highlight for me in New Zealand was the great hospitality we got from everyone, and especially the Shields Family. Darren Shields owns Wettie dive Shop and hosted this world event. He and his team went out of there way every day to make sure all the competitors were welcomed and taken care of. This was so appreciated after flying 1/2 way around the world.
As the college semester finished Dec 12th, Savanah and I, along with 10 crazy CMU students, all flew to Florida to dive with Manatee and the Crystal Springs area. With the help of Capt Steve Luff the trip went better then we could ever have hoped for. We started with an aquarium dive in the Disney Aquarium just hours after getting off the plane. We got a great tour and dive in crystal clear salt water and with sharks, rays, and many different fish I have never seen in the wild. How could it get better than this??
The next morning, we dove with Manatee—wow if you have never snorkeled with these huge beautiful mammals - you need to. We also freedove with 100+ lb tarpon and a school of 20-30 lb snook, like I have never seen before. Day 3-4-5 we dove some beautiful grottos, sink holes, caverns that were some of the most different diving I have every done.
In May I got to dive our USOA Nationals with my Dream Team. 2 of the best divers in the world and just great watermen and friends. We had never dove on the same team together, but the chemistry and respect we had for each other, made this so much fun. We had an average age of 57 and beat all the other teams to claim the top team in the USA, Mahalo to my Hawaiian brothers. It was my pleasure to dive with the both of you. We also had the best captain and boat in the western hemisphere, With Captain Mark.
Congratulations on all your adventures Mike! You certainly give us all some things to strive for.
Here is Mike’s contact info for anyone who would like to contact him:
Mike McGuire
532 34rd
Clifton, Co. 81520
anywatermike@gmail.com Cell 970-216-5902
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