Thomas has been on and in the water his whole life. He grew up fishing from a very young age being successful in tournament fishing and as a fishing guide. While attending high school he obtained his life guard certification and work at Burger's Lake. He later became a Water Safety Instructor teaching swimming and life guarding. His first experience with scuba diving was while taking a PE class in college. In the mid 80's Thomas decided to become active in scuba diving and achieved the professional rating of PADI Divemaster in 1991. His goal was to be the best divemaster possible. He has worked with hundreds of students while they achieved various levels of certifications, some of whom have gone on to become instructors.

 

Although he achieved his assistant instructor rating through another diving agency, his loyalty has been with PADI. Thomas was recognized by PADI in 2007 for 15 years as a diving professional.