The Board met via Skype on July 22,2012.

The first topic to be discussed was regarding the European Underwater Federation (EUF). Kimmo reported on an introduction with the EUF at their recent annual meeting. The EUF represents most major diving agencies in Europe (e.g. PADI, CMAS), and sets diving standards within the EU region. The Board voted to join the EUF as an Observer Member, at an annual cost of EUR 100.

The Board then reviewed financial matters including  the proposal for enhanced financial controls sent to the Assembly in June, and discussed items remaining to be completed; all items are currently on schedule. Ben Noble, Treasurer, has prepared draft financial statements for 2001, and Robert King, Secretary, is reviewing them. A draft of financial statements will next be prepared for 2002 and 2003, and audited with the accounting firm.

Jean-Pol Francois, Education Officer, reported on the pilot project to create national level judges (Level F) and judge instructors, which was approved at the June meeting; this project will be tested in Sweden and China. If the program is successful, it will be rolled out to members generally. The goal of this program is to allow faster training of judges capable of judging national level competitions only, as a stepping-stone to having them become international judges (i.e. Level E) after obtaining additional training and experience.

The Board then voted to approve the following candidates as AIDA Instructor Trainers: Brian Crossland; Wendy Timmermans; Maria-Teresa Solomons. Congratulations to these new ITs !

The Board welcomed AIDA’s new Technical Officer, Antero Joki. Antero discussed potential TC members, and structure for the TC; candidates for the TC will be reviewed at the next meeting. The Board also reviewed target schedules for revising the Judge IOP and Competition Rules.

The Board reviewed issues relating to AIDA Spain, and athletes going to the world championships. Petar Bojovic has been working to come to a resolution for these athletes.

In regards to the Individual World Championships for both pool and depth; at the request of a number of organizers who await confirmation from venue officials, the deadline to submit bids was extended to 31 July 2012. Please notify all potential organizers of this extension, and note that bids should be submitted not later than 31 July. Get those bids in!

Kimmo provided an update on the strategy project, the first meeting for which was held in May. He has assembled a strong committee for this important project for the future direction of Aida.

The Board discussed alternatives to Dropbox for archiving video of world record attempts (Dropbox does not support files the size of videos). Marcello and Julien will look into using a YouTube or Vimeo account for this purpose.

Kimmo again noted that we have terminated AIDA’s former address within Switzerland. Please note that AIDA has a new address in Switzerland, which can be found on the AIDA website, on the “Contact Us” page: http://www.aidainternational.org/contact-us

The next meeting will take place in August. Please contact any Board member for any topics which should be discussed.

Aida Board

Due to work obligations, Pim Vermeulen had to resign from the Technical Officer position but he will continue to contribute his expertise on Aida matters. An assembly vote has resulted in the election of Antero Joki to replace him in this important role. Many significant projects will be addressed by the TC including; revision of the judge points system and updating the competition rules. We want to thank Panagiota Balanou for also volunteering to run for this position and for her work on Aida projects.

Congratulations to Antero and we look forward to updates on the progress of important TO tasks.

Aida Board

The Board met via skype call on June 17, 2012.

The Board would like all to know that the mailing address in Switzerland has been changed. The new address can be found on the AIDA website, on the “Contact Us” page: http://www.aidainternational.org/contact-us. It was also suggested that contact info (email addresses) for questions should be and will be included in the “Contact Us“ section.
Due to work commitments, Pim Vermuelen, Technical Officer, had to resign. Robert has requested that the Assembly elect a new Technical Officer. Please cast your vote as soon as possible, and not later than the deadline indicated in the vote request.
At the request of a number of organizers who await confirmation from venue officials, the deadline to submit bids for the 2013 AIDA Pool and Depth World Championships has been extended to 31 July 2012. Please notify all potential organizers of this extension, and note that bids should be submitted as early as possible, in order to allow time to resolve missing or unclear information.
Please note that all overdue annual member fees were due not later than 30 April 2012. Members who have not paid annual member fees for 2011 and 2012 will be contacted to determine if they are still active and valid National members (if you have questions regarding your national, please contact Robert at: secretary@aidainternational.org. Payment instructions may be found on the AIDA website at: http://www.aidainternational.org/questions-a-answers
The Board requests all judges who have not yet done so, to immediately upload their judge points to the automated judge points system; judges who have not updated their judge points will remain listed as “Inactive” until the judge has registered and updated their points. Please contact Marcello (judge-support@aidainternational.org), if you need help with this.
The Board approved cross over status for courses from freediving education agencies for Russia and France.
The Board approved a pilot project to create national level judges (Level F) and judge instructors, to be tested in Sweden and China. If the program is successful, it will be rolled out to members generally. The goal of this program is to allow faster training of judges capable of judging national level competitions only, as a stepping-stone to having them become international judges (i.e Level E) after obtaining additional training and experience.
Rik Rosken, Science/ Medical officer, reported on proposed revisions to the Deep Diving Guidelines. This comprehensive document will soon be available, following the final editing.
Kimmo provided an update on the strategy project, the first meeting for which was held in May.
Kimmo also reported on an introduction with the EUF (European Underwater Foundation) at their recent biannual meeting. The EUF represents most major diving agencies in Europe (e.g. PADI, SSI, NAUI, CMAS etc.), and AIDA is considering joining this prominent group as an “observer member” to send a representative to future meetings.
Robert will be contacting the Board members to schedule a meeting in July. Please contact us with any questions or concerns.

AIDA Board