It was with great sorrow that, on Saturday 10 July 2004, we received the news of Sean Power’s tragic death while diving the wreck of the Santa Maria at Fair Head in Antrim.
Sean joined Portmarnock Sub Aqua Club in 1998. As a superb swimmer and one who was very comfortable in the water, he quickly passed through all stages of training until in September 2003 he achieved Mon** standard. In the interim he had been a shining light, both in PSAC and on the CFT Executive, as National Competitions Officer. He was most at home with the Sea, either in it, on it or under it.
However, as friends of Sean’s we would like to give you SEAN the bigger picture.
Sean was a man of many passions. In fact he was passionate about almost everything he did. But most of all he was passionate about PEOPLE. That is why we will all miss him, not only because he was a great diver, swimmer, husband, son, brother, friend but because when you met him you didn’t forget him.
Sean joined Portmarnock Sub Aqua Club in 1998. As a superb swimmer and one who was very comfortable in the water, he quickly passed through all stages of training until in September 2003 he achieved Mon** standard. In the interim he had been a shining light, both in PSAC and on the CFT Executive, as National Competitions Officer. He was most at home with the Sea, either in it, on it or under it.
However, as friends of Sean’s we would like to give you SEAN the bigger picture.
Sean was a man of many passions. In fact he was passionate about almost everything he did. But most of all he was passionate about PEOPLE. That is why we will all miss him, not only because he was a great diver, swimmer, husband, son, brother, friend but because when you met him you didn’t forget him.
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He was passionate about art. Jenny Kingston, whose paintings are displayed all round Sean and Aoife’s house, tells that he was very knowledgeable about art and her best critic. However, he did complete a work of art at one time and apparently it was a case of "those who can do and those who can’t…become critics"!
Sean loved poetry and was also adept at writing it. There are two beautiful examples of his poetry, one written for his mum and the other for his nephew, which the family kindly shared with us. This was a side of Sean that not many knew. Sean loved music and his taste spread over a wide range from Nina Simone to the Cowboy Junkies, from Jazz to Classical. He loved to sing in the boat on the way back from dives and his singing was legendary, the way the Hunchback of Notre Dame is legendary…scary to kids! Sean’s day started very early so that by 7:00am he believed that everybody was ready to receive his phone calls and many of his friends were "blessed" in this way. A short time ago, a friend, who was getting married, got a call at 7:00am "I don’t give a damn what you say, you’re having a stag night and I’m organising it. So call Ed, he’s coming up with the details". This is also a perfect example of Sean’s "organising talents". |
Sean had the happy knack of forgetting things he was supposed to remember but on the other hand remembering the most surprising detail, of driving you to distraction and then dropping everything to get you out of a hole, of making you mad and then completely disarming you with his charm, of dreaming dreams and dragging you into the dream and you were happy to be there for the ride.
In pursuit of his dream of having Portmarnock SAC win the Underwater 10km, along with a punishing training regime he managed to persuade the other team members to go on a special diet and shave all their body hair. The team went on to win the 10km and are now listed in the Guinness Book of Records. We could go on about this wonderful, charming, exasperating, clever, handsome, loving and much loved man but whatever we say would not be enough. Sean’s own words, taken from his poem for his mother, dated 3rd July 2004, may describe him best. "he died living, not lived dying not waiting for the reaper nor waiting for the preacher" Portmarnock Sub Aqua Club |