'A Lifetime Memory For Me': Oologah Woman Preps To Dive With Bull Sharks At Aquarium

Every year the Oklahoma Aquarium draws two names in its annual contest that allows the public a chance to “Dive with Bull Sharks.”

Rebecca from Missouri was the out-of-state winner, and Kim Butler from Oologah was the Oklahoma winner.

Butler said she found out about the contest during her first-ever visit to the aquarium.

“I came a couple of months ago and stood in the shark tank and was just mesmerized, giddy, and thrilled,” she continued saying, “I immediately told everyone I was with I am entering. I am going to win. I am going to swim with these sharks.”

The dive is on Saturday, August 24th. Kim and Rebecca will be wearing a 40-pound, $6,000 chain mail suit when they get into the bull sharks' tank.

Both are certified scuba divers, with Kim getting her certification 14 years ago. However, her dream of swimming with sharks began long before that.

“When I was in high school, it was always a dream,” she said. “I thought at some point I would dive the Great Barrier Reef and swim with the Great White Sharks and as a girl from Oologah, I did not know if that would ever happen.”

Most people would be afraid, but not Kim.

“It is the strangest thing, I am completely fearless when I am underwater, so this opportunity I feel even safer,” she added. “I will have the chain mail; these sharks see humans every day; there is not even the tiniest bit of fear. I am just going to swim in there and be in heaven.”

A much different experience than Kim's first encounter with bull sharks while on a dive in Mexico.

“All of a sudden, the dive master started motioning to everyone to lay down on the bottom, and we looked, and we were being circled by about 8 to 10 bull sharks,” she said. “It was the most exciting thing I have ever done.”

However, the dive at the Oklahoma Aquarium on Saturday just might top that.

“Every single person I know thinks I am crazy for wanting to get into the shark tank,” Kim continued saying, “I think the risks are no greater than the reward. This reward is going to be a lifetime memory for me, it is worth it.”