UKDIVING CLUBFOCUS
Torbay Splash-in club booth
Instructor Simon Jackson with Sports Diver candidate Olly Ward some members with a keen interest in underwater photography , which led us to run the annual Torbay Splash-in competition . This is a one-day competition that is open to non-members and attracts a good selection of very talented photographers from the south-west ( and beyond ). Photos must be taken between 10pm the evening before to 5pm on competition day .
You mentioned wanting more younger members , do you attract them with a training offer ?
We try to train a few Ocean Divers each year , but recruitment in sufficient numbers is sometimes challenging . If necessary , we are happy to refer individuals to a local dive centre to get their initial training . Some then return to us because they prefer the club environment and can continue their training with BSAC .
Another New Year at Torbay Harbour
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What other training do you offer ?
Local RYA powerboat training is popular and we have recently used a local BSAC Instructor to qualify several Diver-Coxswains . We would like to do more skills development in-house , but some courses offered by the regional team ( such as Twinset Diving or Accelerated Decompression Procedures ) are more convenient for members .
Where do you carry out your training ?
Unfortunately , there are no pools more than two metres deep in the area , so we do Ocean Diver training and our try dives at a small , local school swimming pool . Beach dives can be carried out at Babbacombe , Brixham Breakwater , or Beacon Cove , all of which are local and fairly accessible . We also use Vobster Quay in Somerset for more advanced training .
Who is in your instructor team ?
Our Training Officer is an Advanced Instructor , and we have five Open Water Instructors , as well as five Assistant Instructors and some instructors from other agencies . So we are well staffed , but our problem is the lack of a sufficiently deep training pool . We used to be able to access a commercial fourmetre-deep pool in Paignton , but that has now closed .
Looking back on 2024 , what were the highlights ?
As usual , we ran a New Year ’ s Day harbour dive , for which we get special permission from the Torquay Harbour Master . In June , we ran our eighth annual Splash-in competition that saw a good number of very high-quality photographs submitted . To celebrate our 70th anniversary , we are holding a celebratory dinner at a local Babbacombe restaurant .
We have an annual Christmas dinner , and this is usually combined with the presentation of the branch trophies , which include the Maine Cup for outstanding service and a cup for the member doing the most branch dives during the year . The Wally Plate is one of the less popular awards to win ( for obvious reasons ).
And in the next few years ?
We plan to complete the fitting of a diver lift to our new boat , which we hope will attract more divers to the club ; those who would like to do some more technical wreck dives , as well as more underwater photographers . We also aim to continue taking the Torbay Splash-in from strength to strength each year . The event includes an evening dinner . You can see the winning entries on our website . �