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An experienced spearfisherman collapses on the boat after attempting another
By ERIC STIRGUS
© St. Petersburg Times, published August 20, 2001
MADEIRA BEACH -- About 200 feet down in the gulf Saturday afternoon, Mark Sweazie was hunting two black groupers he was sure would earn him first place in the St. Pete Open, billed as "the world's largest spearfishing tournament."
After losing sight of the fish, the scuba diving hunter ascended back to the boat. Cautious friends suggested that he rest a bit, but Sweazie eagerly dived again.
This time he quickly returned to the boat, complaining of leg cramps, friends said. Minutes later, he couldn't breathe and lost consciousness.
Eight hours later, at 1:55 a.m. Sunday, Sweazie was pronounced dead at St. Joseph's Hospital, where he had been taken by a Coast Guard rescue crew. Sweazie, a Madeira Beach resident who owned a lawn service company, was 39.
"We're stunned," said Sweazie's cousin, John Allen. "We were hoping we would wake up and discover it is a bad dream."
An autopsy was performed Sunday, but the findings were not immediately available. Sweazie was a strapping man who never had any problems diving, his family and friends said.
However, Sweazie was diving extremely deep Saturday in the gulf about 50 miles southwest of John's Pass. The maximum depth for a recreational diver is 130 feet, said diving instructor Chad Carney. Friends and relatives said Sweazie had gone as deep as 200 feet Saturday.
Carney, who saw Sweazie earlier on Saturday, said making multiple dives too quickly also can be extremely dangerous, because your body does not have sufficient time to release the nitrogen in the airways after a dive.
"It's a sad situation," Carney said of Sweazie's death.
Sweazie's family said he was practically born to dive. His uncle, Homer Allen, was one of the first police divers for the St. Petersburg Police Department and provided similar services for the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office. He lived near the water growing up. Sweazie's first chore when he bought his home on Madeira Beach was to build a dock for his boat.
"He loved the water," his distraught mother, Nancy McClellan, said Sunday afternoon. "That was his real big getaway."
Sweazie hadn't been diving lately, so he was very excited about competing in the two-day tournament Friday and Saturday, McClellan said.
Two years ago, Sweazie won the St. Pete Open for catching a 103-pound grouper, friends said. "He felt like he had arrived" after that win, said Allen, 43.
Sweazie made the trip from John's Pass with a group of other spearfishermen in a 52-foot boat called the Tia Ryo, friends said.
Hunting fish at depths greater than 100 feet is inherently dangerous, experts say. The deeper you go, the greater the risk of decompression sickness. A small miscalculation, a momentary lapse of judgment, can mean the difference between life and death.
Sweazie was aware of the risks, friends said. The danger, however, did not overtake Sweazie's desire to catch the big one.
"He liked to dive in deep water," said Nick Blight, a friend. "He was good at it. He pushed the limits. It probably cost him."
- Information from Times files was used in this report.