First Class Diver is BSAC’ s highest diving grade, so would a prep / exam event in the Red Sea do it justice? Recollections may differ...
First Class Diver candidates
LEARNINGCURVE
It’ s not a holiday, honest
First Class Diver is BSAC’ s highest diving grade, so would a prep / exam event in the Red Sea do it justice? Recollections may differ...
The Examiner’ s story
By Dave Sydenham, BSAC National Instructor and First Class Diver Examiner
First Class Diver( FCD) takes a lot of skill, experience and dedication to achieve. It’ s not easy to pass and really stretches all those who put themselves forward for it.
It is often said‘ there is no reward without challenge’, and that’ s certainly true of First Class. It can be extremely challenging, but also rewarding for those who achieve it. Whether they pass or not, those attending the preps and putting themselves forward for the exam are exposed to new ideas, improve their skills and knowledge, and become better divers. As examiners, we learn loads each time we work on these events, and never more so than on First Class, where the calibre of the candidates is generally very high.
This event was unlike any other First Class I’ ve had the pleasure to examine. The candidates decided to organise the event in the Red Sea, whereas we are used to wet, windy weekends in the UK. Well, you can take First Class out of the UK, but it would seem you can’ t take UK weather out of the First Class.
Some might have thought that choosing to do the exam overseas in clear warm water would be an easy option, but the weather was as challenging as the UK. The small boats weren’ t quite as well equipped as candidates might be used to( no echosounders or GPS) and of course, as examiners, we weren’ t going to make it any easier.
It was an unusually large event, with 10 candidates. As examiners, we manage the examination of each candidate through
An instructor crossover course was also held during the trip
Full team photo
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