After months of zoom calls, studying, and lesson planning, seven of BSAC’s newest open water instructor candidates descended on Clifton Gardens in Sydney’s north shore for the in-water practical demonstrations which would bring all the learning together and test their skills. The group was a joint contingent of divers from both Brisbane SAC and Sydney SAC and was led by BSAC’s top national instructor Sophie travelling all the way from the UK to guide the candidates through the OWIC training.
Kicking off was the all-important rescue skills training involving simulated CBLs, rescue breaths, and towing which was made even more challenging by the windy and chilly conditions. With that successfully completed it was on to the main event for the next few days which was each student demonstrating their allocated practical lesson including briefing, kitting up, their in-water lesson, de-kitting, and finally the debrief with the poor visibility underwater making the exercise very realistic. The lessons presented ranged from full AS to shot line recovery and many more, and it was great to see such a wide range of skills showcasing the diving experience across the group. With a few minor pointers from Sophie everyone got through their demonstrations with flying colours, and to celebrate the group went to the unofficial SSAC clubhouse at the Lord Nelson Brewery in The Rocks for dinner and a “few” drinks.
Capping off the training event was a fun dive at Bare Island, the early-ish start meaning a few nursing slightly sore heads from the night before opting to skip the dive but come for the post dive coffee, recovery fried food, and chat at the Boathouse Cafe.
Overall, a very successful training event with special thanks to Mark for bringing it all together, Sophie for coming to Australia and leading the event, the Brisbane SAC divers for making the trip to Sydney, and to everyone involved that made the event enjoyable and successful.
Finally, a big congratulations to all the new BSAC OWIs!!
