Women divers outdo men, study claims

Heeey, all in the interest of sharing, right? No shooting the messenger! :D


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Women divers outdo men, study claims
David Harrison
Last Updated: 1:06am GMT 29/10/2007

For years women drivers have endured jokes about map reading and reversing from men who pride themselves on their superior spatial awareness.

Underwater, though, the boot – or flipper – is on the other foot. For women divers are much more aware of their surroundings than men, according to a two-year study of scuba divers.

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http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main...ndriver128.xml

I don't know how they can measure something like that, but I would not doubt it. I dive regularly with my wife, and while I have many more dives in and have been diving for longer and in more locations, I still look at her in amazement wondering why she is such a natural.

She swims better than I do, she uses less air than I do, and she notices many creatures that I completely miss. Now of course she is in better shape than me (I am 6 years older than she is), she is smaller than I am, and she has near perfect vision, while I can't see more than 1 foot without my glasses.

Anyway, I feel very lucky to have such a great dive buddy.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by acelockco

I don't know how they can measure something like that, but I would not doubt it. I dive regularly with my wife, and while I have many more dives in and have been diving for longer and in more locations, I still look at her in amazement wondering why she is such a natural.

She swims better than I do, she uses less air than I do, and she notices many creatures that I completely miss. Now of course she is in better shape than me (I am 6 years older than she is), she is smaller than I am, and she has near perfect vision, while I can't see more than 1 foot without my glasses.

Anyway, I feel very lucky to have such a great dive buddy.

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HOLY COW!!!!!

We have found something that Ace will not touch with a ten foot pole! Can we say playing nicey, nicey with such an obviously biased topic!!
The Ace lives in fear of ............... his wife!!!!! :D :D :D ;)


Obviously said by one who does not have to surrender to the WILL of the better, er..... wifely unit! :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :eek:

Seriously that study is a crock! Lack of situational awareness is lack of training, not a lack of estrogen!!!!
This men vs. women battle has got to stop! I am so sick and tired of this ridiculous battle. We all have our short comings and that is not the purview of one sex over the other!!!

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Originally Posted by amtrosie

Seriously that study is a crock! Lack of situational awareness is lack of training, not a lack of estrogen!!!!
This men vs. women battle has got to stop! I am so sick and tired of this ridiculous battle. We all have our short comings and that is not the purview of one sex over the other!!!

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Spoken like Jack Nicholson in A Few Good Men - "You can't handle the truth"
:D :D :D ;) ;)

But seriously speaking here, i think they just do these studies, so that the people conducting the study (or whatever) can go on an ego trip.
Today's headlines is tomorrows fish and chips :cool:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by amtrosie

HOLY COW!!!!!

We have found something that Ace will not touch with a ten foot pole!

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Haha, very funny! Obviously you know I am usually one to get down and dirty with this type of topic. And to argue for the sake of arguing.

I swear to all of you (lol), I don't purposely seek out the material (I'm not into baiting nor gender wars; my Sunday diving group is made up of both males and females who I've bonded to bits with). Why, I just randomly clicked on an article googled on the nature of fear http://www.dtmag.com/Stories/Dive%20...98-feature.htm with the intent of forwarding it to a friend who (having panicked in a pool) is anxious about his coming intro-dive and, what do you know, there just had to be another cited study, another resource person. Fishy or not, if you can't post this in the ScubaChix thread, where else can you? :D

Excerpt:
"...Several years ago Dr. Lasher completed a study that examined trait anxiety, thrill-seeking, age, and experience as predictors of scuba accidents. Her study found that among male divers, those who are older or have more experience in the water, are less likely to have accidents. Oddly, she found no correlation with any of the factors among female divers. It could be, offers Lasher, that by nature women are more cautious and less likely to be sensation-seekers, thrill-seekers, and risk-takers..."

Interesting points in the first article. I don't know what a "marine scientist" is though.I also question if a Divemaster of either sex is qualified to speak generally about men divers vs women in only 500 dives.

The other article said something which bears repeating:

"Observe Your Personal Limits — Any time you push the envelope, you put yourself in a position where you can become over-stressed and mentally lose control. Any time you don’t feel up to par, refrain from diving. Don’t push yourself to dive in excessively rough conditions, strong currents, or conditions of low visibility or strong surge. Avoid peer pressure, and keep your diving depths well within your experience and personal limits."

I think many women know this without being told; it took me 20 or 30 years to catch on...

As for the idea that women are more streamlined, graceful and efficient underwater? Duh! That's why we men want you to dive with us...

I'm certainly not surprised... I've long held that some of the women divers I know are far better than most of the male divers, at least as far as my kind of diving goes.