Saipan’s youngest diver breaks world record

A 10-year-old resident of Saipan took his final dive at Grotto before becoming officially Professional Association of Diving Instructors-certified, and breaking the world’s record of being the youngest PADI-certified diver with the earliest dive time.

Finn Fraiche took the final plunge to certify just a little after six in the morning last Friday at the Grotto and completed his dive at 6:45am, breaking the dive time of the previous record-holders: India’s Ovee Malve and Dwit A. Nandu. Nandu had broken the record at 10am, Aug. 24, 2023, and Malve on Oct. 11 at 7:18am. Fraiche completed his dive at 6:45am—quite a feat to try and overshadow with the Marianas’ time zone. It was not immediately learned if Fraiche’s feat will be submitted to the Guinness Book of World Records in order to be considered a certified record-breaker.

This Isla Montessori student explained that he had developed an interest for diving and a love for the water at the young age of 7. His favorite thing about diving is getting to see all the underwater life and breathe underwater.

“I love that it’s super clear and it’s really blue; it’s super beautiful. When you’re down there there’s all of these beautiful coral [reefs]. My favorite thing about diving is all the beautiful things you can see and that you can breathe underwater,” he said. “When I was underwater in the pool for the first time it brought tears to my eyes because I’ve always wanted to breathe underwater, it’s always been my dream. “

Just before his 10th birthday, he decided he wanted to become the youngest PADI-certified diver.

His parents, Laura Webb and Geoff Fraiche, had both been certified divers since they were teenagers, but never as young as their son. “It’s been an amazing experience to watch him learn all these things…” said Webb.

Both parents said they couldn’t have done it without Finn’s instructor, Jay Wolfe from Axe Murderers Marianas.

“[It’s] just amazing to watch your child have a teacher and mentor like Jay that you can trust and to see how much they learned and how far he’s come in just a short amount of time,” said Webb.

The process to get PADI certified wasn’t a walk in the park. Wolfe said that Finn Fraiche had to complete the set lesson plans digital or print, pass a knowledge review, and then pass the actual exam, followed by a combined water session training, from confined water sessions and then four open dives using skills needed to dive safely.

“At the end of the fourth dive you’ll be certified as a junior open water diver,” said Wolfe.

He said that Finn Fraiche has really good diving skills, especially considering his age, “so we’re very proud of him.”

Finn Fraiche’s dream doesn’t stop there. The next places he wants to dive at is Banzai Cliff and the Dimple site. “Part of my goal is to be the world’s youngest diver in all of the courses and also be the world’s oldest diver,” said the young man.