First Class Diver: changes to the Chief Examiner role

The BSAC National Diving Committee (NDC) has made a change to the First Class Diver (FCD) examination team, bolstering support for the organisation's highest diver grade.

After valued service in the role, Sandra Castro is standing down as FCD Chief Examiner due to work commitments. Sand's contribution to FCD has been significant, and her efforts in developing and supporting the grade are hugely appreciated by the NDC and by all those she has helped along the way. We're pleased to say that Sand isn't going far — she will continue to support the National Diving Committee on a range of other projects, and we look forward to her ongoing involvement.

We're delighted to announce that Kev Ford, who has been working alongside Sand on FCD, will step up as the new FCD Chief Examiner. Kev brings a wealth of diving and instructional experience to the role, along with a clear vision for the future of the grade.

Please join us in thanking Sand for everything she has given to FCD, and in wishing Kev every success as he takes the reins.

Meet Kev Ford

Kev began his diving journey with PADI in the early 2000s, qualifying as a Divemaster before crossing over to BSAC as a Dive Leader in 2009 — a move made as part of a military expedition to Ascension Island in the South Atlantic.
Today he is a BSAC National Instructor and First Class Diver, holding an extensive range of diving and instructional qualifications. These span MOD 2 CCR and OC Explorer Mixed Gas through to Diver Cox'n Assessor. As an instructor trainer 'trainer', he is active right across the Instructor Training Scheme.

Kev is currently the Training Officer of the Royal Air Force Scuba Association and holds the military Sub-Aqua Diving Supervisor (SADS) qualification. He has planned, delivered and led expeditions across the world.

An active technical diver with experience in deep and project diving, Kev has a genuine passion for developing other divers while continuing to build his own knowledge and experience.

Kev's vision for FCD

In Kev's own words:

I'd like to keep driving FCD forward, with a view to offering a structured mentoring programme to interested members — from delivering webinars through to forming and supporting teams of candidates. I want preparation events, exam locations and dates to be driven by our candidates themselves, to help them succeed in achieving this prestigious diver grade.

I also want to review the grade to ensure it continues to offer our members and the organisation the very best training and future output it possibly can.

First Class Diver is the top diving grade within BSAC. I want to protect the integrity of the qualification as a mark of exceptional personal diving skill, and to affirm its place as the grade whose holders are BSAC's project and expedition leaders — divers at the heart of developing others in those projects.