UKDIVING CLUBFOCUS
Instructor Chris Barsley leads a training session, Pall Mall
Who are your members?
The RAC has a membership of 17,000 adults aged 18 +. Within this, the Sub Aqua Section has around 1,200 registered members; although only 50 to 60 actively participate in diving and training. Club members can join sub-aqua activities at no extra cost.
What is the breakdown of your diving members?
Most of our diving members hold BSAC Ocean Diver qualifications, along with various PADI certifications. Many have
30 trained within the club. We also have a significant number of members eager to explore diving but yet to take the plunge.
What resources does the sub aqua club have?
In addition to our pool for confinedwater training, we have meeting rooms for theory lessons and written exams. Our extensive range of diving equipment includes dive computers, fins, BCDs( in sizes S to XL), regulators, masks, and more. Members can borrow this equipment free of charge for club dive trips or personal
use, subject to committee approval.
The committee has recognised a shortage of dive equipment specifically for women, particularly BCDs. To address this, we’ ve expanded our collection by adding several women’ s BCDs to the kit store.
Tell us about your instructor team
Our Diving Officer and lead instructor, Chris Barsley, is a BSAC Open Water Instructor( OWI) and Dive Leader with 27 years of diving experience. Supporting him are two assistant instructors, Ed Moores and Andrew Philip, who are currently training to become full instructors.
Instructor development is a key focus this year. To support this, we are actively supporting more committee members by running a Dive Leader course, a prerequisite for the BSAC instructor qualifications.
What training is most popular with members?
Try dive and skills refresher sessions in the pool are extremely popular with those curious about scuba diving. After the try dive itself at 7pm, participants are invited to join us in the Long Bar around 9pm for drinks and dinner, and their first drink is on us.
The Ocean Diver course is the most