15-Year-Old Sets Unusual World Record Underwater After Learning How to Scuba Dive, All for a Good Cause

At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, when in-person time with friends suddenly vanished, then–fifth grader Avery Fisher was desperate for real-world connection.

“I was in fifth grade and felt really isolated from my friends,” recalls the now-15-year-old.

An only child growing up in Tiburon, Calif., beside the bay, Avery has always felt at home around the water. The ocean and marine life fascinated her from an early age. One day, in the middle of the lockdown, she brought a bold idea to her dad, Jon, that would tie all her interests together.

“I was like, ‘Let’s spend the lockdown in a creative way,’ ” she says.

By “creative,” Avery meant taking things underwater — learning how to scuba dive. Looking back, she calls that decision “a really pivotal moment.”

Her parents quickly got on board and hired a scuba instructor. After hundreds of hours of training and several certifications, Avery reached a milestone in November 2023. At age 13, she earned a Guinness World Records title for the most magic tricks performed underwater in three minutes, completing 38 tricks.

She set the record at the Aquarium of the Bay in San Francisco, where she now serves as a youth ambassador.

After achieving the record, Avery partnered with the aquarium she’d loved visiting as a child to launch a fundraiser that brought in more than $500,000 for ocean conservation awareness.

She says her commitment to conservation deepened through her experiences at the aquarium, especially as a diver.

“My first time stepping into the tunnels [underwater] was when I really wanted to make a change and bring more awareness to this certain community,” she says. “It was just such a surreal experience: You can see everyone below, and it’s just kind of like you’re in a different world. And I think being able to do that in front of a larger audience, that just sparked a really big interest for me.”

Vacations in her family were almost always centered around the water, Avery explains. “I’ve been to Hawaii many times,” she says, adding that those trips — along with road trips to Santa Cruz, Calif. — helped cement her love of being in and on the ocean.

“I grew up loving whales, loving whale watching,” she says.

She feels lucky to have witnessed so much ocean life up close.

“That inspired me not only to raise awareness about the ocean but to be able to do it through scuba diving,” she says. “That’s really where my interest all stems from.”

Avery began earning certifications through the Professional Association of Diving Instructors, starting with a more than 10-hour open water scuba course where she learned the fundamental skills.

Next came pool testing — the confined water training required for initial certification. It took her about a month to feel truly confident.

“Once I dove, I got a huge liking for it,” she says. “And I would just read manual after manual about all the different certifications.”

Since then, she’s racked up more than a dozen certifications, each requiring at least five hours of pool diving, and she has completed more than 30 open-ocean dives.

“I feel like it came pretty easily to me, but there’s definitely a lot of experience you have to have in the water before you can do it safely,” she says.

Now a high school sophomore, Avery balances a busy schedule. School and volleyball take most of her time, but she still volunteers about 10 hours a month at the aquarium, where she’s spoken with hundreds of visitors.

Her passion is starting to open new doors: she’s drawing attention and is currently in talks for a sponsorship deal. She’s also dreaming about more dives in new locations — not just along the California coast but across the globe.

“That’d be a dream of mine,” she says.