Terry Lentz

:: Terry Lentz - Sports / Education - 1968

CALIFORNIA

When Terry Lentz was three years old he visited a rural part of California where his aunt Barbara lived. There was an eight foot high concrete structure with a ladder running up the side that he climbed and looked at something he had never seen before; a huge(to him) expanse of water within concrete walls, an above ground cistern. He had never seen the ocean, a lake or even a swimming pool so this body of water was entrancing. Walking along the concrete edge of the structure he lost his balance and fell to the bottom. He opened his eyes, saw a ladder in the water going to the surface and walked in slow motion to the ladder and climbed out. He thought the experience was a lot of fun.

When he was fifteen he began free diving and spear fishing. He was twenty two when he won the 1959 individual World Underwater Spear Fishing

Championship title in Malta and a few weeks later with a partner from Algeria won the Cup de Mediterranean. He completed college, won two individual National Underwater Spear fishing Championships and was a member of one National Championship team. In 1964 he and his Olympic Kayak racing partner finished third in two man kayak qualifications and did not make the Tokyo Olympics Kayaking team. Two years later he and his partner won a U.S. National championship, he spent many days surfing and trained several years in the martial arts.

HAWAII

He arrived for a short stay on Oahu, surfed the north shore, married, moved to Maui and dove for Black Coral. He had a baby boy and shortly after moved to the Big Island of Hawaii. He entered construction and Real Estate, had a beautiful baby girl, got divorced, after seven years remarried, continued his martial arts, spear fished commercially for four years, had some life altering moments with Tiger sharks, and adopted two homeless cats and two dogs.

WASHINGTON/CALIFORNIA

Terry and his wife Jeanne moved to the state of Washington for a few years and seeing the failing health of his parents moved to Southern California. He dove infrequently in California, adopted two more cats and two dogs, purchased their fifth Yorkshire terrier, and continued his martial arts. ARIZONA

Terry and his wife moved to Arizona. He adopted one more dog, trains year around for Mike McGuire's freshwater Underwater Spear fishing tournaments and Ocean Surf Ski races, volunteers his time and resources to the protection and preservation of endangered species of fish and a nearby wild animal rescue facility, reads a book or two a week, a great deal of magazines a month, practices Qi Gong daily, target shoots his .44 magnum handgun frequently, and works his one man business.