A TEENAGER?from Farnham has achieved the highest level qualification for recreational diving.

Dimitri Perricos, 14, achieved Professional Association of Diving Instructors’ ?(PADI)?junior master scuba diver status, a qualification that less than two per cent of scuba divers achieve in their lifetime.

It was love at first sight for Dimitri, who first got into diving when holidaying in Greece with family and friends. He was soon hooked after watching one of the holidaymakers’ sons complete his open-water qualification.

In order to achieve Master Scuba Diver status, Dmimitri has been required to complete advanced open water diver and rescue diver courses.

He also had to earn five PADI specialty diver certificates – he chose to study enriched air diver, drysuit diver, drift diver, night diver and peak performance buoyancy – and log a minimum of 50 dives.

In working toward this, Dimitri dived all over the world, including the UK, Greece, Spain, Egypt and Thailand.

He has had to put in a lot of time, brain power and physical effort to achieve this, an achievement all the more remarkable in light of his diagnosis less than two years ago with coeliac disease, an auto-immune condition which until treated left him lacking in energy and stamina.

When in the water, Dimitri says he feels free and relaxed, and does not feel scared at all. He added that scuba diving offers him the perfect combination of using his brain plus gaining excitement.

Proud mum Katherine said: “He’s always been an adrenaline junkie. After scuba diving, his next favourite activity is going on rollercoasters.

“He feels very proud to have achieved junior master scuba diver status as I’ve been led to believe that there are currently only a handful in the UK.”

And she added: “I have never dived but Dimitri’s father already had his Padi open-water qualification from before Dimitri was born, and they have then studied for all the qualifications beyond that together.”

Intrepid Dimitri’s younger sisters Eleni, 11, and Jennie, 10, gained their open-water qualification this summer and hope to follow in their older brother’s footsteps.