Association Internationale pour le Développement de l'Apnée (AIDA) (English: ''International Association for the Development of Apnea'') is a worldwide rule- and record-keeping body for competitive breath holding events, also known as

freediving Freediving, free-diving, free diving, breath-hold diving, or skin diving, is a mode of underwater diving that relies on breath-holding until resurfacing rather than the use of breathing apparatus such as scuba gear. Besides the limits of breat ...

. It sets standards for safety, comparability of Official World Record attempts and freedive education. AIDA International is the parent organization for national clubs of the same name. AIDA World Championships are periodically held.

History

AIDA was founded on November 2, 1992, in

Nice Nice ( ; ) is a city in and the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative city limits, with a population of nearly one million Loïc Leferme Loïc Leferme (28 August 1970 – 11 April 2007) was a French diver who was the world free diving record holder until 2 October 2005, when he was surpassed by Herbert Nitsch. Loic was also a founder of AIDA in 1990 with Roland Specker and Clau ...

and Claude Chapuis, with Specker as its first president. The AIDA Competitions started to take form in 1993. National clubs begin to form over all Europe in 1994–1995. AIDA became AIDA International in 1999. * In 1999 Sébastien Nagel, of Switzerland, replaced Roland Specker as the president. * Bill Strömberg, of Sweden, replaced Sébastien Nagel as president in 2005. * Kimmo Lahtinen, of Finland, replaced Bill Strömberg as president in December 2009. * Carla Sue Hanson, of the USA, replaced Kimmo Lahtinen as president in 2016. * Alexandru Russu, of Romania, replaced Carla Sue Hanson as president in 2020. * Sasa Jeremic, of Serbia, replaced Alexandru Russu as president in 2024.

AIDA World Championships

History of AIDA World Championships:

Team

* 1996: First AIDA Team World Championship in

Nice Nice ( ; ) is a city in and the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative city limits, with a population of nearly one million France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

, for national teams * 1998: Second AIDA Team World Championship,

Sardinia Sardinia ( ; ; ) is the Mediterranean islands#By area, second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, and one of the Regions of Italy, twenty regions of Italy. It is located west of the Italian Peninsula, north of Tunisia an ...

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

* 2001: Third AIDA Team World Championship,

Ibiza Ibiza (; ; ; #Names and pronunciation, see below) or Iviza is a Spanish island in the Mediterranean Sea off the eastern coast of the Iberian Peninsula. It is 150 kilometres (93 miles) from the city of Valencia. It is the third largest of th ...

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

* 2004: Fourth AIDA Team World Championship,

Vancouver, British Columbia Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

* 2006: Fifth AIDA Team World Championship,

Hurghada Hurghada (; ', ) is a coastal city that serves as the largest city and capital of the Red Sea Governorate of Egypt. Hurghada has grown from a small fishing village to one of the largest resort destinations along the Red Sea coast, stretching c ...

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

* 2008: Sixth AIDA Team World Championship,

Sharm el-Sheikh Sharm El Sheikh (, , literally "bay of the Sheikh"), alternatively rendered Sharm el-Sheikh, Sharm el Sheikh, or Sharm El-Sheikh, is an Egyptian city on the southern tip of the Sinai Peninsula, in South Sinai Governorate, on the coastal strip alo ...

* 2010: Seventh AIDA Team World Championship,

Okinawa most commonly refers to: * Okinawa Prefecture, Japan's southernmost prefecture * Okinawa Island, the largest island of Okinawa Prefecture * Okinawa Islands, an island group including Okinawa itself * Okinawa (city), the second largest city in th ...

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

* 2012: Eighth AIDA Team World Championship,

Nice Nice ( ; ) is a city in and the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative city limits, with a population of nearly one million France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

* 2014: Ninth AIDA Team World Championship,

Cagliari Cagliari (, , ; ; ; Latin: ''Caralis'') is an Comune, Italian municipality and the capital and largest city of the island of Sardinia, an Regions of Italy#Autonomous regions with special statute, autonomous region of Italy. It has about 146,62 ...

* 2016: Tenth AIDA Team World Championship,

Kalamata Kalamata ( ) is the second most populous city of the Peloponnese peninsula in southern Greece after Patras, and the largest city of the Peloponnese (region), homonymous administrative region. As the capital and chief port of the Messenia regiona ...

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

Individual

* 2005: AIDA Individual World Championship,

Villefranche-sur-Mer Villefranche-sur-Mer (, ; ; ) is a resort town in the Alpes-Maritimes department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region on the French Riviera and is located southwest of the Principality of Monaco, which is just west of the French-Italian ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

* 2007: AIDA Individual World Championship,

* 2009: AIDA Individual World Championship, Dean's Blue Hole,

Bahamas The Bahamas, officially the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, is an archipelagic and island country within the Lucayan Archipelago of the Atlantic Ocean. It contains 97 per cent of the archipelago's land area and 88 per cent of its population. ...

* 2011: AIDA Individual World Championship,

* 2013: AIDA Depth World Championship,

* 2013: AIDA Pool World Championship,

Belgrade Belgrade is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin, Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. T ...

Serbia , image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg , national_motto = , image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg , national_anthem = () , image_map = , map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...

* 2015: AIDA Depth World Championship,

Limassol Limassol, also known as Lemesos, is a city on the southern coast of Cyprus and capital of the Limassol district. Limassol is the second-largest urban area in Cyprus after Nicosia, with an urban population of 195,139 and a district population o ...

Cyprus Cyprus (), officially the Republic of Cyprus, is an island country in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Situated in West Asia, its cultural identity and geopolitical orientation are overwhelmingly Southeast European. Cyprus is the List of isl ...

* 2015: AIDA Pool World Championship,

Serbia , image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg , national_motto = , image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg , national_anthem = () , image_map = , map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...

* 2016: AIDA Pool World Championship,

Turku Turku ( ; ; , ) is a city in Finland and the regional capital of Southwest Finland. It is located on the southwestern coast of the country at the mouth of the Aura River (Finland), River Aura. The population of Turku is approximately , while t ...

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

* 2017: AIDA Depth World Championship, Roatan,

Honduras Honduras, officially the Republic of Honduras, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the west by Guatemala, to the southwest by El Salvador, to the southeast by Nicaragua, to the south by the Pacific Ocean at the Gulf of Fonseca, ...

* 2018: AIDA Pool World Championship,

Serbia , image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg , national_motto = , image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg , national_anthem = () , image_map = , map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...

* 2019: AIDA Depth World Championship, Villefranche sur Mer,

* 2021: AIDA Depth World Championship,

* 2022: AIDA Pool World Championship,

Burgas Burgas (, ), sometimes transliterated as Bourgas, is the second largest city on the Bulgarian Black Sea Coast in the region of Northern Thrace and the List of cities and towns in Bulgaria, fourth-largest city in Bulgaria after Sofia, Plovdiv, an ...

Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...

* 2022: AIDA Depth World Championship, Roatan,

* 2023: AIDA Pool World Championship, Jeju,

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

* 2023: AIDA Depth World Championship,

* 2024: AIDA Freediving World Championship,

Kaunas Kaunas (; ) is the second-largest city in Lithuania after Vilnius, the fourth largest List of cities in the Baltic states by population, city in the Baltic States and an important centre of Lithuanian economic, academic, and cultural life. Kaun ...

Lithuania Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...

Qualifications and certifications

AIDA has a star system for grading its freediving certifications: Freedive certifications * AIDA 1 Star Freediver, 8m CWT, 1'15" STA, 25m DYN. * AIDA 2 Star Freediver, 12m CWT, 2' STA, 40m DYN. * AIDA 3 Star Freediver, 24m CWT, 2'45" STA, 55m DYN. * AIDA 4 Star Freediver, 32m CWT, 3'30" STA, 70m DYN. Speciality certifications * Pool Competition Safety Freediver. * Depth Competition Safety Freediver. * Advanced Depth Competition Safety Freediver. * Monofin Freediver. * Advanced Monofin Freediver. * Master Monofin Freediver. * AIDA youth bronze dolphin. * AIDA youth silver dolphin. * AIDA youth gold dolphin. AIDA has 3 levels of Instructor qualifications and certifications: Instructor certifications * AIDA Instructor, can teach up to 3 Star Freediver. * AIDA Master Instructor, can teach up to 4 Star Freediver. * AIDA Instructor Trainer, can teach all levels, and instructors.

Records

AIDA recognized world records as of March 28, 2022.

Pool Disciplines

The AIDA recognized pool disciplines are static apnea (STA) and three separate dynamic apnea disciplines. Dynamic With Fins (DYN) which is done with monofins usually but bifins are also allowed, Dynamic With Bifins (DYNB) which uses bifins, and Dynamic Without Fins (DNF) does not allow fins to be used and divers usually use breast strokes and wall-kicks for propulsions.

Sea Disciplines

References

External links

* {{Authority control Underwater sports organizations Freediving Underwater diving training organizations Underwater diver organizations

History

AIDA World Championships

Team

Individual

Qualifications and certifications

Records

Pool Disciplines

Sea Disciplines

See also

References

External links