<p>KITCHENER Suffering through a slow recovery from hip replacement surgery, 86-year old Jack Youngblut is confined to an easy chair where he wiles away his time reflecting on a remarkable life.</p><p>"I started diving in 1958, and once you start diving, you always want to do something better," said Youngblut, an award-winning underwater photographer and one of the founding members of the now defunct Trident Diving Club in Kitchener.</p><p>What makes Youngblut's story compelling is that he started diving just four years after the first scuba certification course was offered in California. In 1956 renowned underwater explorer Jacques-Yves Cousteau shot the documentary The Silent World. The film was one of the first to use underwater colour cinematography and went on to win several prestigious awards including an Oscar. Scuba, particularly underwater photography, was virgin territory.</p><p>Don Wilkes, retired manager of Fathom Five National Marine Park and the Bruce Peninsula National Park, has known Youngblut for years and calls him "one of the grandfathers of scuba diving in Ontario.</p><p><a href="http://www.guelphmercury.com/living-story/4154581-underwater-pioneer-recalls-years-when-scuba-was-young/">Keep reading...</a></p>