The February 2013 Aida Board meeting was held via Skype on the 18th with all executive officers in attendance. The first vote approved Mario Albuquerque, of Portugal, as an instructor trainer. He will be subject to a 6-month review period to ensure quality assurance and active participation. We welcome Mario and look forward to hearing from his new instructors.
Jean-Pol and Carla provided a report on a group of freedivers in Indonesia seeking to obtain AIDA Observer member status. The Board voted to ask that the Assembly vote on this group’s request to obtain Observer status (only the AIDA Assembly may approve new members).
The Board also voted to approve the purchase of medals for both world championship competitions in 2013, plus twelve reserve medals.
Robert reviewed a request for VWT world record attempt by Anna von Boetticher; the Board concurred that Grant Graves and Petar Bojovic judge the record attempts (to take place in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt in April 2013).
Antero confirmed that he will be in Belgrade for the Serbian Open Freediving Championship, and will inspect the venue and logistics. Petar has stated that the organizers have requested that there be no performance minima, as Belgrade has the capability to host a large number of competitors. The Board voted to approve waiving the minima for both WC competitions this year (for Belgrade, pending Antero’s positive report). Robert will request that the Assembly vote to select judges for the Belgrade competition by end of month.
Kimmo stated that he and the IT team have been diligently working to fix the judge database . A new Judge Responsible will take office when the system is in good working order and renewals for editing points, etc. have been implemented. Kimmo and Carla will be reviewing all current judges and making promotions where indicated. Judge cards will be manufactured and distributed to active judges. In addition, the Board voted to amend the approval process for appointment of Level B, A and A Instructor judges, in order to require Board approval for such leadership roles; this parallels the current process for appointment of AIDA Instructor Trainers in the education system (which also requires Board approval, rather than approval by a single person).
Antero asked that the request for suggestions to the rules changes be extended for two more weeks. A reminder to send in suggestion will be posted on Facebook. He and the committee plan to have a rules draft ready for initial review by the Board at the end of March.
Rik opened discussion of medical topics which included changing the medical release so as not to require a doctor’s signature unless there are contra-indications of the athlete’s health/fitness. Many scuba agencies use such a form (e.g. PADI). He will have a draft of this form by 30 June. Rik also reported about the feedback on the lung-packing paper, and made suggestions for potential requirements of medical personnel (to be considered in the future) and incident reporting at competitions.
The next topic concerned an item presented to the Disciplinary Committee in 2012, which was asked to review questions regarding selection of members of the team selected by AIDA Portugal for the 2012 AIDA Team World Championships. Kimmo reviewed the report from last year’s DC, which found that the selection process may not have been managed fairly and openly. Kimmo noted the need for minimum standards to apply to certain functions of AIDA National Members (such as selection of teams sent to world championships and public national statutes at a public Aida national website together Board members information), and indicated that this topic would be reviewed as part of the current strategy project.
Kimmo proposed that the forum discussion function on the AIDA website be migrated over to the AIDA Facebook page. All other pertinent information will remain on the AIDA website, and only the community discussion function will be changed.
The Board agreed to meet again in March . All Aida members are encouraged to present any topics to be discussed.
