FAVOURITEKIT
Adrian cosies up to his AP Evo + rebreather
FAVOURITEKIT
My AP Diving Evo + rebreather.
“ I like to tinker with it. There’ s still a lot to learn and trimix is my newfound love.
”
The West Midlands Regional Coach at the time, Mark Callaghan, encouraged Adrian to become assistant Regional Coach, and in 2012 he took over the reins.“ Mark taught me so much,” Adrian says.“ He was a fantastic mentor.”
Adrian became a First Class Diver in 2017 and now works actively as an Instructor
TEACHINGHIGHLIGHT
Difficult to choose, but I love the
“ Search and Recovery Skill Development Course as it is so practical. Also the Instructor Foundation Course( IFC) and SITCA( Snorkelling Instructor Course) as these teach the very basics of being a good instructor.
”
Trainer on the Instructor Training Schemes for both scuba and snorkelling, as well as at commercially run Snorkel Instructor events. He was Chief Examiner for Snorkelling from 2019 to 2023. He tells me he loves coaching because it enables him to teach at a higher level and pass on his knowledge. Adrian says he has met and worked with some outstanding instructors that have greatly assisted in his own development.
“ If you aren’ t familiar with what the coaching teams do, one of the main roles is to support our branches,” Adrian explains. The Regional Coach is appointed by the National Diving Officer and BSAC HQ. The role of the Regional Coach is to manage a programme of local events. In addition, there’ s a team of instructors who teach on the Skill Development Courses run within the regions. The whole team is there to support divers and branches.“ It’ s not the BSAC police,” he says cheerfully.
Over the past few years, the West Midlands Region has put much effort into providing training to help with Advanced Diver, First Class Diver, Advanced Instructor and the technical diving grades, in both theory and practical sessions. And all that instructing for the region was an excellent
In open circuit mode, with action camera way to develop his own instructional skills further, he adds.
So, who can be a Regional Coach or work at regional level?“ We are divers who are experienced in many different things,” Adrian replies.“ Most of us are instructors, and many teach on the ITS.” If you are a committed OWI willing to develop, the regional team is a great place to start, he adds.
Is there still time to go diving?. Adrian says he loves the Sound of Mull and the South Coast. Cornwall also has some spectacular wrecks.“ I do love wrecks,” he says. He admits to giving up logging most of his 2500 + dives, only keeping a record now of the unusual ones.
Finally, I ask what advice Adrian would offer a newly qualified Ocean Diver or Snorkeller.
“ Enjoy the sport, but keep up the practice,” he says.“ Never be ashamed of ducking out from a dive. Keep an open mind and always ask‘ why’.
Oh, and if you suffer from headaches, Adrian recommends that you get it checked out as it can be a tell-tale sign of a PFO( also called a hole in the heart).“ This is quite a common condition but fixable,” he says, speaking from experience. �
Hardboat hi-jinks
Become an Instructor!
Sports Divers and up( for scuba) and 16 + year olds( for snorkelling) can start instructor training.
Scan for more info
Or visit bsac. com / instruct 51