Gemma and Ian chat to Hayley Adlam. Hayley has been crowned, Miss Scuba International 2023 and at the time of our interview she was a finalist about to embark on the competition in Malaysia.

Having worked in the offshore industry alongside commercial divers for over a decade, Hayley dived into the world of Miss Scuba UK after seeing a noticeable gender gap not only within the recreational diving world (only 39% of registered PADI divers are women (2021)) but more notably, within the commercial dive sector where a minute proportion of women are represented.

Hayley, as a part of this year's Miss Scuba UK team duo, aims to inspire other women to not only try scuba diving, but also show that there are plenty of opportunities within the commercial diving sector for all genders through sharing her knowledge and experience of the offshore world.

"During my time operating on offshore wind farm construction and subsea telecommunications vessels, there was a noticeable lack of women in the commercial dive teams working on our projects. I was inspired by the ethos of the Miss Scuba UK foundation whereby one of the primary aims is to encourage other women to take the plunge beneath the waves".

Miss Scuba UK aims to create a safe space for women to explore the opportunities that learning to SCUBA dive has to offer and as an organisation, it has well and truly fulfilled this mission over the past 8 years. After a four year break due to COVID-19 it is now a case of continuing this work and engaging more women to take the plunge.

https://www.instagram.com/hydro_hayles/

https://www.instagram.com/missscubauk_official/

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100057149661331

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