Photo Gallery: Free scuba lesson for women at Sport Chalet

Maya Davies, 13 of Pasadena, left, and Nayelli Rojas, center, 13 of La Habra, come up after their first-ever scuba dive with instructor Lisa Jover, right, during a free, women-only introductory scuba lesson at Sport Chalet in La Canada Flintridge on Saturday, August 17, 2013. (Raul Roa / Staff Photographer)

Aug. 17, 2013 9:58 PM PT

As customers inside La Cañada’s Sport Chalet shopped for shoes, attire and sporting goods on Sunday, Aug. 21, a small group of women were breathing underwater for the very first time. They knelt at the bottom of the store’s instruction pool, communicating silently with hand signals as enormous bubbles clamored upward and burst into the hot summer air.

Photo Gallery: Free scuba lesson for women at Sport Chalet

Assistant instructor Andrewa Horwatt, second from left, explains the rules of scuba diving to first-time students Taylor Carbonetti, left, Megan Galantai, 13, second from right, and Lauren Galantai, 18, right, before their first-ever scuba dive during a free, women-only introductory scuba lesson at Sport Chalet in La Canada Flintridge on Saturday, August 17, 2013. (Raul Roa / Staff Photographer)

Instructor Lisa Jover, bottom of photo, takes a student to the bottom of the 12-foot deep pool on her first-ever scuba dive during a free, women-only introductory scuba lesson at Sport Chalet in La Canada Flintridge on Saturday, August 17, 2013. (Raul Roa / Staff Photographer)

Scuba instructor Lisa Jover, left, takes two new students on their first-ever scuba dive during a free, women-only introductory scuba lesson at Sport Chalet in La Canada Flintridge on Saturday, August 17, 2013. (Raul Roa / Staff Photographer)

Megan Galantai, 13 of La Canada, is all smiles after going on her first-ever scuba dive during a free, women-only introductory scuba lesson at Sport Chalet in La Canada Flintridge on Saturday, August 17, 2013. (Raul Roa / Staff Photographer)

Lauren Galantai, 18 of La Canada, goes on her first-ever scuba dive during a free, women-only introductory scuba lesson at Sport Chalet in La Canada Flintridge on Saturday, August 17, 2013. (Raul Roa / Staff Photographer)