Category: Social Event

Putney BSAC in the time of Corona – March 2020 until TBD

Despite the COVID-19 pandemic and lock-down, Putney BSAC has remained active in the last couple of months. During difficult situations, people rally round and this has definitely been the case for us with members giving up their time to provide talks and lectures via Zoom. We have finished off sports diver and dive leader theory sessions virtually to our trainees and will hopefully be signing off exams in the coming weeks. On top of these we have given lectures on decompression theory, marine life, how to organize a RHIB trip and tsunamis with more topics to follow. Although we can’t wait to get back to the pool and pub, these virtual get togethers are becoming one one of the week’s highlights for some of us.

Pool Games – March 2020

In mid March we held our annual pool games. Originally set for a huge turnout, the early stages of the coronavirus pandemic meant we unfortunately had lower numbers on the night. We chose to still go ahead which was the best decision considering we had a great night and went into lock-down two weeks later.
There was a mix of previous champions, old timers and pool game newbies, all equally competitive for the non existent trophy. The evening saw the return of the underwater relay race and plank challenge, alongside a new addition- tug of war. A huge amount of fun even if it was a little one sided and we all ended up on top of each other. Our last game was the notorious balloon challenge – where teams have to get as many balloons in a crate on the bottom as possible. As always the rule book went out the window and there was plenty of sabotage, masks being pulled off and drama under water. Luckily we weren’t too black and blue at the end of the night and went to celebrate at a local pub.
A great night which we hope to repeat once normality resumes.

CCR Try Dive – February 2020

25th of Feb was a day that opened the secret chamber in the scuba diving life of 7 of our club members. Gill and Nick from Clidive kindly organised a taster for a closed circuit rebreather in our own Putney leisure center pool. After setting up 2 shiny AP Evolution beauties and receiving short a introduction into how these things operate, we took turns trying them out. What should I say – the breathing is different, buoyancy is different but grin on all our faces say it all…. and … guess what … no bubbles…. Debrief happened in the Rocket pub as usual and we started talking about selling boats, limbs, kidneys and livers (well…) to buy some of these CCR  (for me I spent next day on checking the prices of different brands,… but yeah they are expensive). Massive, massive thanks to Gill and Nick and who knows maybe we can explore more options in the near future …

Pool games – April 2017

Let the hunger games begin…

Ok, so the annual Putney SAC pool games didn’t herald the fall of a despotic regime and the transformation of society, but the stakes were still pretty high. Pride and all that… and some Quality Street for the winners which I totally forgot to buy. Woops. If I were a gamemaker I’m pretty sure I’d be shot. Luckily, our club members are a little more forgiving (I think…).

We had two teams of three competing in this year’s games – longstanding members (Team A) vs. less longstanding members (Team B). I don’t think I’m allowed to say oldies vs. youngsters but oh look, I just did. The games consist of four challenges which are both demanding (for the participants) and hilarious (for the bystanders). Continue reading Pool games – April 2017

Christmas Dinner

As the year begins to draw to a close, members of Putney SAC, old and new, and those without whom many of us wouldn’t be able to dive (the understanding spouse) gathered for the annual Christmas dinner to partake in the two most important activities of a dive club other than diving: eating, and talking about diving!

It was great to see so many new members there – even some who haven’t completed their first course yet. 2017 looks like it’s going to be a great year for the club and with a packed dive and social calendar, there’s plenty of opportunity to get involved.

Happy Christmas to you all, and see you in the new year if not before!

Pool Olympics

The Pool Olympics took place this week at our usual Putney Leisure Centre swimming pool. The object of the event is to compete in a few ridiculous games for the grand prize of a box of chocolates. The word olympic is said to be a misleading magnification of the event’s true nature.

This year’s turnout saw the Dolphins compete against the Geriatrics with a mix of Putney BSAC and Cosmos BSAC in both teams. Continue reading Pool Olympics