David White – SETT training process

You’re training when you first go to the Tank as an Instructor is, it’s baby steps so the first thing they get you to do is go down and find your buoyancy point which is about five, six metres and that buoyancy point is you take a deep breath on the surface and then you work your way down the ladder until you stop, let go and you neither float nor sink, that is your buoyancy point and if you just push down past that you will slowly start to sink faster and faster and faster, so you do that.

Then they get you to go down to the 5-metre blister and back up again. Then down to the 9- metre lock and back up again, all holding your breath and of course the first few days you’re convinced you’re going to drown, but at the end of, you know, six, seven weeks you’re regularly dropping down to the 18 metre lock and that’s the furthest you ever have to do on breath held diving, is to the bottom lock, except in an emergency and that’s the reason they have Bottom Droppers, to show worried mums who’s sons might be going through, who’ve come to an Open Day, that no matter where someone gets into trouble, an Instructor can go and get them. So that’s what we used to do, take, and I did it for BBC … 

Simon:  So it wasn’t just for sort of showing what could be done? It had a practical thing, if someone was in trouble? Ok. 

Yeah yeah, absolutely, that’s a good point, it’s a party trick but it’s also got a valid reason that, you know, that we can go and get out.