Nick Stevens - Senior Instructor & Dive Officer
Hi, Im Nick Stevens,
I was born on 9th November 1976 in Hammersmith Hospital to Dave and Julie.
I went to Ashford C of E School and then on to Halliford Boys School at the age of eleven years old. I passed nine GCSEs (eight of which A-C), and completed two A Levels, going on to study two degrees, a BEng - Engineering Science & Technology and a BSc QTS Design Technology with Education. Although due to differences with the staff I completed neither.
I went on to join the Metropolitan Police Service, and there I still work as a constable, serving for Queen, Country and the Bank Manager
I have always been interested in the water but never learned to swim until quite late in life. Im still not that strong at it now. I was always better under the water and never saw the need to swim on the top. Looking back, this really does seem to have been an indicator of things that were to come.
My interest in snorkelling and diving was always present from an early age. I used to watch Jacques Cousteau films on the TV and always loved the James Bond sequences shot under water. It wasnt until a vain attempt by one of my primary school teachers to get me to read, at the age of nine, did I really take an interest in the sport in earnest.
I had wandered down to the school library, and found a book called Skin Diver. It was one of those nasty rough recycled paper books with poor print, but it had lots of pictures, so as far as I was concerned it did fine for a reading book. Needless to say, being forced to read what little words there were had me transfixed. To my recollection I dont ever remember giving the book back, although sadly I cannot say where it lies now.
With the information I had acquired from the book, I spoke with my parents about finding me a way to learn to dive. At the time I was too young to scuba, but my dad found the Kingston & Elmbridge Junior Snorkellers Club.
I joined the club when I was just ten and never looked back. At the time it was run by the divers of the Kingston & Elmbridge Sub Aqua Club (for their own children), and the head instructor was a man called Chris Durrant. Snorkelling in those days was controlled by the National Snorkellers Club (NSC), with BSAC being only a figurehead as the governing body of diving in the UK. Training was hard. By comparison to todays standards some of things we had to do could have been considered child abuse, but I survived, and I really think it has made me a better and more resilient diver.
I was a terrible student, always mucking around, never doing what I was told, and always getting things wrong. I was held back so many times I've lost count. Eventually I started to progress however and believe it or not I got pretty good at what I did.
In 1991 things started to change, with the passing of the late great Lionel Blandford, the head of the NSC, BSAC took over the running of snorkelling, and changed the training to that which you would recognise today.
I continued to train, working my way up through the new qualifications set by the BSAC, eventually going on trips to Lulworth Cove and Littleton Gravel Pit. Littleton was always exciting, for a start in those days the cars werent all rusted away like today. It was not as posh as it is now either, as we had to park at the side of the busy main road, get changed in the ditch, and then run across the road, jumping the fence to get into the lake. Then you had to navigate the mudslide down to the water before the pontoon and steps were created. After a few divers had accidents crossing that stretch of road, the Sailing club eventually allowed access to the site and the car park and facilities as you know it were created.
When I turned sixteen I was asked if I could help do some teaching. Whod have thought it, me, the worst student in the history of the club (till that point at least), teaching! I gave it a go however, and found I seemed to have a knack for it. I was trained to the heady heights of Assistant Instructor and took control of my new group. I loved it; the power, the satisfaction, the ability to strut around in a T-shirt (then as now students werent allowed to wear T shirts on poolside), it was fantastic! The poacher had turned game keeper!
By this time the club was run by the Theaker Family, Dave, Janice, Dawn & Craig. Dawn was the senior instructor, and to this day both Craig and Dawn are still great friends and mentors of mine. You can regularly see them at Lulworth as they now act as Open Water consultants for the club.
Pretty soon the years went by, and Dawn had graduated university and been offered a job down south. As a result Dawn had to leave the club. Craig was unable to take over as he too was working long and irregular days, and as their children were not going to be there Dave and Janice Theaker wanted to step down as well. The club looked doomed to close.
I was next in line, but I had only just turned eighteen and not been fully qualified as a Snorkel Instructor. I could not let the club close, it had done so much for me, and so I vowed to take over. With the help of the Area Coach, a Snorkel Instructor Course was set up for me so that I could officially take over. On completion I was the youngest Senior Instructor and Dive Officer in the world. My dad then took over as club secretary to do all the paperwork, and I ran the club and organised the training.
From then on I have not looked back. I completed my Advanced Snorkel Instructor Award soon after, and with the help of the contacts I had made over the years, completed numerous other snorkelling qualifications developing myself to assist the club. With another instructor back in 2000, I also designed and built this club web site and I am now the club web master. The site has proved popular with both new members and current members, who like to see the photos of trips and club nights held on it.
Both the club and I have gone from strength to strength, being now not only one of the oldest snorkelling clubs in the UK but one of the strongest.
Some almost twenty years on, I have now taken on the role of the BSAC Area Snorkelling Advisor for Surrey; I am a member of the BSAC Instructor Training Scheme as an Open Water Snorkel Instructor Trainer and I am writing a book (very slowly) on Snorkel Instruction Techniques.
In my personal time I have learnt to scuba dive and now hold the BSAC Dive Leader award and BSAC Assistant Diving Instructor Award. I also hold the PADI Rescue Diver award and am a trainee PADI Divemaster. Last year I moved on to technical diving and hold the International Association of Nitrox and Technical Divers Advanced Nitrox award. I am regularly down at the coast getting in as much bottom time as I can.
Whatever time I have left between that and work, I like to fit in films, ice-skating, hanging out with friends, rock climbing and making jewellery out of silver.
Planning for the future, I hope to complete the Advanced Snorkel Instructor Trainer qualification and I aim to finish my Divemaster and Scuba Instructor awards and then move on to the world of Trimix Diving.
My dreams for the future are to find a beautiful dive girl to settle down with, and hope that one day the club nominates me for an MBE for services to children/snorkelling. Could happen?
I look forward to every Tuesday night training session with anticipation, even if I have to teach the most unruly of students (Though I'm sure they're why I'm losing my hair!). Lulworth is brilliant despite being the most tiring weekend of the year. It is great to watch your students mature over those two days, making new friends, working as a team and having fun into the bargain. On the trip home I know that I have helped influence their lives, in the same way my instructors did for me. I have watched many generations of students grow up into young adults and seen how their lives change from one week to the next. Believe it or not I am even looking forward to the first snorkel club wedding in May 2006!
Snorkelling has been a fantastic friend. It has taught me a new skill, kept me fit, found me new friends, developed my confidence and totally changed my life. I dont think anyone or anything apart from my parents have had a greater influence in my life. Everywhere I look diving and snorkelling impacts on my life, from the clothes I wear to the decoration in my house, even to the preferred choice of specialisation at my place of work.
I feel that the club and the students are now part of my legacy. Years to come I hope that when you have kids you will remember me, when you explain to them how you got into diving, and why they should too.
One day you might even be sitting here writing about how you became an instructor or maybe even the head of the KEJSC, just please dont try to get rid of me yet... Im having too much fun.
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Junior Snorkelling Club
