Simon Campbell

About

Diving

Simon Campbell and Tony Bridge

My big mate Rennie Alock convinced me to learn to dive; something I had always wanted to get into since the age of 9 but never seemed to get round to. In May 1996 I became a PADI Open Water Diver at Lions Dive, Curacao. Not content to stick with Open Water I immediately went on the Advanced course. The following few years were punctuated with dive trips to the far flung reaches of the warm water world, from Burma (Mayanmar) to Mexico; Red Sea to Mediterranean Sea. Absolute hell... Of course I didn't realise at this stage that I knew nothing about diving until...

Badgered by a load of RAF divers during various diving expeditions I was persuaded to join the British Sub Aqua Club (BSAC).

Living in Clitheroe at the time I joined the the Ribble Valley Sub Aqua Club (RVSAC) branch and start to dive in British 'temperate' waters - that's bloody cold... This began and obsession and love affair with the sport.

Crossing over from PADI as an Ocean Diver I progressed quickly through the grades achieving First Class Diver in 2005; BSAC highest diving grade. I wrote a regular article in 'DIVE' magazine about my experiences in achieving this qualification. In 2007 I surprised myself (and everyone else!) by passing the National Instructor Examination, BSAC's highest instructor grade.

So, 1600 dives later and following mixed gas & rebreather qualifications, I will still dive in 2m of water providing there is something to see. I love running expeditions and as a consequence have managed and participated in many challenging expeditions worldwide, recently travelling to the Falkland Islands where the team found a previously un-dived Argentinian supply vessel from the 1982 conflict.

Together with some of my international diving pals Triton Oceanic Corporation was formed in January 2008 with a purpose to seek out and dive a variety of new dive sites worldwide with Nautical Archaeological significance. Watch out, we have many nautical things up our sleeve.

Of course diving is of all about boats and I hold the RYA Advanced Powerboat certification and teach boat handling for BSAC...

I have served in RVSAC as Training Officer and am currently Diving Officer. Within the British Sub Aqua Club (BSAC), I have worked teaching a selection of Skill Development Courses for the North West and Yorkshire regional teams, as an Instructor Trainer worldwide and more specifically:

North West Region

Assistant Regional Coach (January 2007-March 2008)
First Class Diver Coordinator (January 2007-current)
Member of the regional coaching team (December 2005-2006)

Yorkshire Region

Area Coach (January 2006-2007)
REDS Coordinator (January 2006-2007)

BSAC National Diving Committee

Member of the First Class Diver development steering group (2006)
Diver Training Development Officer & Assistant to Diver Training Program Chief (June 2007-current) responsible for introducing new techniques and skills into core BSAC Diver Training.