Meet Peter Shone, an Advanced Diver and Assistant Advanced Instructor with Solway SAC. Interview by Kristina Pedder
FACTFILE
Name: Peter Shone
Job titles: Instructor, mentor and trip organiser for university clubs
Area covered: North West England
VOLUNTEERLIFE Just. Go. Diving!
Meet Peter Shone, an Advanced Diver and Assistant Advanced Instructor with Solway SAC. Interview by Kristina Pedder
PHOTO: NAOMI WATSON
Peter Shone from Whitehaven, Cumbria, is a geotechnical engineer by day and an enthusiastic dive trip organiser and instructor in his spare time. He’ s a member of his local club, Solway SAC, and three university branches: Liverpool, Manchester and Warwick.
When I ask if he discovered diving at university, Peter says no. His father was a keen diver who started as part of his Duke of Edinburgh Award and then joined Leeds Sub Aqua Club when he went to university there. Peter’ s dad stopped diving when starting a family. Then, when Peter was 14, his father suggested he learned to dive before a family holiday to Malta.
Peter was signed up at the local PADI centre and says he tore through the theory and pool lessons with great enthusiasm. They stuck him in a little clay pit in a wetsuit in December. It was 4 ° C in the water and the visibility was awful, but he says he had the most amazing time.
“ In Malta, on my first sea dive, I saw beautiful fish, and, incredibly, seahorses. Then, I dived the P29 patrol boat, saw the turret and instantly fell in love with wreck diving. I’ ve never looked back.
“ From then, I dived fairly regularly with dad,” he says,“ but he always told me that Uni diving would be the best diving I would ever do, and the cheapest. Portsmouth University club definitely delivered on that.”
Peter began to volunteer at university clubs. He was always critical of ticket chasers, but he realised that as a very experienced Sports Diver, he couldn’ t help out nearly as much as an instructor could.“ I then worked very hard to get to OWI,” he says.“ And before I knew it, I was teaching all year round.”
54 Peter and friends on a club trip to Anglesey
DIVINGTIP
Dive what’ s on your
“ doorstep. If you can hop in a lake after work, or nip off to the sea for a dive, do it. Super cheap, super regular diving will bring you joy, build a culture among your friends of good diving, and make you a better diver.
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