Scuba fatality in Lake Michigan

A member of the Hoofer SCUBA club died during a dive in Lake Michigan near Port Washington Saturday morning.

Deep Varma, 41, of Verona was part of a group of 11 making its first dive of the day to the shipwreck Northerner, about four miles from Port Washington. The Port Washington Police Department rescue boat responded to a call for assistance and treated Varma at 10 a.m.

“We are saddened by this tragic loss of one of members. Our thoughts are with Deep’s family and friends,” said Jim Rogers, Hoofer Outdoor Programs director. “We pride ourselves on the high level of training and competence of our club members and will be reviewing the incident to see what we can learn from this tragedy.”

All Hoofer divers are Professional Association of Diving Instructors (PADI) certified; this was Varma’s 50th dive, according to Rogers.

The club was on a trip chartered with Pirates Cove Diving, Inc. of Milwaukee. The club, one of six Hoofer outdoor recreation clubs on the UW–Madison campus associated with the Wisconsin Union, has about 100 members. Varma was not a UW student or staff member; Hoofer SCUBA membership is open to any UW–Madison student, staff, or Wisconsin Union member interested in diving.

This is the fifth fatality associated with Hoofer clubs, which have included more than 50,000 members since 1931. One skier died in 1931 and another in 1986; a sailing club member died in 1965, and an outing club member was fatally injured while canoeing in 1961.

Rogers said Hoofers will arrange counseling sessions for members of the group who were on the dive as well as other Hoofers who request help. Student members of Hoofers requiring counseling can call the University Health Services crisis line at (608) 265-5600.

For more information about the incident, contact the Ozaukee County Sheriff’s Department (262) 284-7172. For more information about Hoofers, contact Jim Rogers, (608) 262-6897, jbrogers@wisc.edu.