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Amber: The youngest diver in Sri Lanka 

21 Mar 2021

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yv0VDBjX6b8[/embed] By Olu Anthony    Ten-year-old Amber Matarage is already a champion in diving and gymnastics. Not to mention the fact that she is the youngest licensed diver in Sri Lanka. She dreams of becoming a marine biologist, and already has extensive knowledge about the sea and the friends that inhabit it.   Could you introduce yourself to the Little Stars audience?   My name is Amber Rose Matarage. I am 10 years old, and I go to the British School in Colombo. I come from Sri Lanka. My dad does too, but my mom is from Switzerland. In Galle, I have two pets – one cat and a dog. I would say that my hobbies are scuba diving and gymnastics.   How old were you when you first started diving?   I was nine years old when I started diving. When I first got into the water with scuba gear, it felt scary and very weird, but as I was getting used to it, it felt nice. The first time I was very worried that something could go wrong underwater, but since the second time, I’ve not been scared. I enjoy it very much and I think the world underwater is beautiful.   Diving is not the most common hobby among small kids. What inspired you to take up this challenging sport?   I always went snorkelling with my father and the first time I did it, I liked it a lot. Being able to see so many fish and corals was such a great feeling. We had two diving centres next to our restaurant in Galle. I asked my dad if I could start diving and he reached out to one of the diving centres to find me a trainer. That is where I started diving. I continued my course and made my way through to do my exam and get a license.   It seems that you are the youngest person to have her diving license in Sri Lanka. Yes.   You have been diving for a year. How are you liking it so far?   I really want to keep doing it because I like it a lot, and when you are underwater, you feel like a whole new world just opens up in front of you.   What are some unforgettable things you have experienced when diving?   Something I will never forget is the exam I had to go through to get my license. Also, the experience of seeing various animals underwater that I’ve never seen before but always wanted to see.    What were your exams like?   It was all about how you go up and down in the ocean and questions about what a diver would do in case of an emergency.   What kind of safety rules do you have to follow while diving, and why is it important to follow these rules?   The most important rule while diving is to know your hand signals. Since you cannot talk under water, that is how you communicate. If you don’t know these things, you may easily get into trouble and may not be able to get help, making you helpless.   Have you witnessed situations where people got in trouble because they did not know their hand signals?   No. Since I have only gone diving with my instructor, I have not yet experienced diving with a group. It was always me, my dad, and my instructor. So among us, I haven’t experienced this.   How often do you train? How important is it to keep up with training?   I train every weekend. We live in Colombo, so I get to train when we go to Galle on the weekends. Sometimes, I spend the week there and come to Colombo for the weekend.  It is quite important to keep up with training, because after a while of no training, you may start to forget your hand signals and will have to relearn them all over again. It is not easy to catch up on the basics when you forget them.   Tell us about some of your achievements.   Apart from being the youngest licensed diver in Sri Lanka, I was also able to reach a high level of gymnastics. I’m good at the sports that I play at school and have won many events. I am also a good swimmer.   Tell us about how you spend a day in Galle when you do not have training.   My day would be spent doing gymnastics most of the time. I would be playing with my pets. I hardly see them anymore since we visit Galle only on the weekends. So I love making the most of it when I see them. I usually do gymnastics here in Colombo. I practise gymnastics at the Little Gym. In Galle, I do my own moves and practise by myself.   Your mother was born in Switzerland. You and your father are Sri Lankan. What is it like to experience both cultures?   The best thing about it is that I can go to both countries. Here in Sri Lanka, I enjoy things such as scuba diving and swimming. In Switzerland, I get to go skating and skiing. I also get to swim in the freezing lakes.    How often do you visit Switzerland?   Usually once a year, but I could not go last year. Hopefully, we will get to go this year.    What do you hope to become when you grow up?   I always wanted to be a marine biologist. Diving has really helped me to become better at that subject since I interact with a lot of sea creatures when I dive. I want to explore the ocean more and learn new things about the beautiful world underneath. I’ve seen a lot of different types of fish and I know specific details about them such as if they’re poisonous or not. For example, needlefish have a long nose and are initially very short but can easily grow up to one or two feet. They won’t harm us, but they can easily eat their prey.   How old were you when you started reading books about marine diversity?  I must have been about six or seven. That is around the same time I started snorkelling in the sea. Seeing those fish and sea creatures really made me curious, making me buy books to read about them. That was when I decided I wanted to be a marine biologist to explore the sea more.  Photo Krishan Kariyawasam


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