Air bubbles burst on the surface of the racing pool in the humid McCoy Natatorium as three students and an instructor hover 10 feet below practicing skills that could save lives in an emergency situation.

The students are taking a scuba diving course through the Nittany Divers -- a student group for scuba divers at Penn State.

"Almost anyone with the right desire can learn," diving instructor Paul Rentschler said.

Rentschler has been a scuba diver for eight years and a diving instructor for two.

He teaches a series of courses for the group, including a dry-suit course every fall.

"With [wet suits] you can't even move," said Jair Carrasquero, a 2004 Penn State alumnus.

"In [dry suits] you just feel the wrist and the neck," he said, referring to the tight seals around the ankles, wrists and neck in a dry suit that keep water from seeping in.

Dry suits are used for cold water diving while wet suits are typically used in warm water.

"Lean against an outside metal pole in the middle of winter -- you can feel that it's cold through a warm jacket," Rentschler said. "It's the same idea with a dry suit."

He said a dry suit insulates the diver by trapping air between the body and the walls of the suit.

While the diver feels the cold water, he or she is protected from its full force with the dry suit.

But the Nittany Divers offer more than just one class to the Penn State community.

Vice President Matt Vinciguerra (junior-aerospace engineering and astrophysics) said the group runs classes every semester, including a basic scuba course and certification trip, an advanced diver course in the fall, a rescue diver course in the spring and a training assistant program to help Rentschler with students in the basic scuba course.

Inexpensive equipment rental rates are one reason why scuba divers join the club. A second reason, Vinciguerra added, stems from the different experience scuba diving offers.

"Scuba diving is a lot of fun. You can explore a lot of different environments," he said. "I like space a lot and if I can't go to space, scuba diving is the next best thing."

Vinciguerra said the group has about 50 members and meets at 7:30 p.m. every other Thursday in 201 McCoy to discuss club business, equipment rentals and club trips.

One trip the group has organized is a winter break trip to the Florida Keys.

However, while he loves diving, Carrasquero said going home to Venezuela is more important.

"My mom would kill me if I didn't go to her house for Christmas," he said.

Still, he said he's a big fan of the Nittany Divers -- especially his new certification as a dry suit diver.

"It was way better than diving with a normal suit," Carrasquero said. "Scuba diving is a type of hobby that always challenges you."