BSAC's Southern Regional Coaching team has been bolstered by the addition of Oliver Meaden.
Oliver - known as Ollie - brings a wealth of experience to the role, having worked his way up to Advanced Diver and Open Water instructor over a 25-year diving history.
Ollie said:
I started my diving career when I went to University in 2001, joining the University of Portsmouth SAC where I climbed to Dive Leader and Open Water Instructor making lifelong friends along the way. I continued my love of diving by joining Southsea SAC and being a member of both clubs.
I have since completed my Advanced Diver and been lucky enough to dive around the globe including the Philippines, Australia and Egypt. I have now started to branch out into the world of technical diving completing my cavern and introduction to cave diving course which is truly exhilarating.
As well as being a longstanding club member, Ollie has first-hand experience of the organisation and BSAC structures, having held numerous roles over the years. He continued:
Working alongside my friends, I have held several committee positions including secretary, equipment officer, Training officer and currently welfare officer.
My aim is to not just support training within branches as needed but to promote the development of instructors across the region to help our clubs become self-sufficient.
Ollie will initially work alongside Johnathan Hudson, the current Regional Coach, to ensure that the region’s clubs are fully supported.
He has ambitions to see more clubs working together in the future. He said:
Being a teacher myself (inspired by becoming an OWI) I hope to be ideally placed in developing people. I am also passionate about developing interbranch/regional communication.
Julia Branagan, BSAC Diving and Training Adviser said:
It's great to be able to welcome Ollie to the regional coaching team, and I'd like to express my thanks to Johnathan for the four years he has been in role, running events for and offering support to members from across BSAC - not just the Southern region - and for agreeing to support Ollie as he transitions into the role.
