A SCUBA DIVER got to be face-to-face The Duke of Cambridge while he made a visit in his role as President of The British Sub-Aqua Club (BSAC).

Alistair Reynolds, from Newton-le-Willows, has been a scuba diver for almost 50 years and for much of that time has been a member of the Merseyside branch of BSAC.

Prince William took over the BSAC Presidency from his father The Prince of Wales in May 2014, becoming the third generation of the Royal Family to take the helm of the UK’s governing body for scuba diving and snorkelling.

During a tour of Liverpool and the Wirral on Thursday, The Duke met with 71-year-old Alistair at the Mersey Divers’ clubhouse and pool training venue in Wallasey.

He spoke to a group of members of different ages about their passion for the sport and various achievements in the club’s history which was founded in 1954 – the fifth branch club of BSAC to be formed.

Alistair holds an impressive list of BSAC accomplishments and is currently Mersey Divers’ senior instructor.

A BSAC national instructor and former technical manager for the organisation, Alistair has trained thousands of people of all different ages and backgrounds to learn the sport over four decades.

Alistair, who is a grandfather-of-eight and great-grandfather-of-three, introduced The Duke to young scuba divers Frankie Wycherley, 13, and 16-year-old Hannah Williams.

After meeting the Prince, Alistair said: “The Duke was a lovely man, very easy to talk to and very interested in what the young divers are up to.

“Both Frankie and Hannah were very nervous before The Duke came in but as soon as he started talking to them, you could see that he was putting them at their ease.”

Other members talked to The Duke about various historical artefacts including a cannon raised by a Mersey Divers team from the 1883 wreck of the SS City of Brussels.

The ship set a record for the fastest Atlantic crossing in its heyday and sank in January 1883 after being struck by another vessel near the end of its voyage from New York to Liverpool, resulting in the tragic death of 10 of the 167 people on board.

BSAC is made up of 120 dive centres and 900 plus family friendly and sociable clubs, run by volunteers, up and down the country and abroad.

It represents more than 28,000 scuba divers and snorkellers and welcomes new members from complete beginners upwards including those who have trained with other agencies.

BSAC Chief Executive Officer Mary Tetley added: “It has been a great pleasure to welcome The Duke of Cambridge to our Merseyside branch and I know members such as Alistair have enjoyed sharing the history of the club and its varied stories and achievements with him."

For more information about Mersey Divers go to merseydivers.com

For more about learning scuba diving skills with BSAC see bsac.com or find them on Facebook or Twitter @BSACDivers.