She is the daughter and granddaughter of Nascar greats Al Unser and Al Unser Jr., but instead of breaking records behind the wheel, Cody Unser is making history beneath the waves. On Saturday April 2, the 29-year-old scuba diver extraordinaire became the first paralyzed woman to be inducted into the Women Diver’s Hall of Fame at the Beneath the Sea awards banquet in Secaucus, New Jersey.

“It was such a huge honor,” says Unser. “What makes this so special to me is the fact that I am the first woman with a disability to be inducted. It’s been interesting for me to see the dive industry embrace the disability community.”

Paralyzed from a sudden onset of transverse myelitis at the age of 12, Unser started scuba diving the following year. “After becoming paralyzed, everything I did or thought about included the broken body I was now living in,” she says. “Scuba diving took all the doubts away.”

She started the Cody Unser First Step Foundation to raise awareness for transverse myelitis. Her foundation has focused on the therapeutic potential scuba diving has for those with disabilities for over a decade. Through her programs, Cody’s Great SCUBA Adventures and Operation Deep Down, Unser has been able to help those with disabilities experience scuba diving for the first time and even become certified.

“Scuba diving is pure freedom from the gravity I feel in my wheelchair everyday. Working with adults, veterans, and kids with disabilities … and watching their excitement from getting out of their wheelchairs and into the freedom of the water is so inspiring.”

On April 18 Unser will conquer yet another milestone when she heads to Key Largo, Florida, with a group of kids with spina bifida and cerebral palsy as part of her “Changing Lives One Dive at a Time” adaptive scuba program. Although they have trained in pools and aquariums, this will be the first group that Unser takes into the open ocean.