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. 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. History AIDA was founded November 2, 1992 in Nice, France by Frenchmen Roland Specker, Loïc Leferme 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 USA, replaced Kimmo Lahtinen as President in 2016. Alexandru Russu, of Romania, replaced Carla Sue Hanson as President in 2020. AIDA World Championships History of AIDA World Championships: Team 1996: First AIDA Team World Championship in Nice, France, for national teams 1998: Second AIDA Team World Championship, Sardinia, Italy 2001: Third AIDA Team World Championship, Ibiza, Spain 2004: Fourth AIDA Team World Championship, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada 2006: Fifth AIDA Team World Championship, Hurghada, Egypt 2008: Sixth AIDA Team World Championship, Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt. 2010: Seventh AIDA Team World Championship, Okinawa, Japan 2012: Eighth AIDA Team World Championship, Nice, France 2014: Ninth AIDA Team World Championship, Cagliari, Italy 2016: Tenth AIDA Team World Championship, Kalamata, Greece Individual 2005: AIDA Individual World Championship, Villefranche-sur-Mer, France 2007: AIDA Individual World Championship, Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt 2009: AIDA Individual World Championship, Dean's Blue Hole, Bahamas. 2011: AIDA Individual World Championship, Kalamata, Greece 2013: AIDA Depth World Championship, Kalamata, Greece 2015: AIDA Depth World Championship, Limassol, Cyprus 2016: AIDA Pool World Championship, Turku, Finland 2017: AIDA Depth World Championship, Roatan, Honduras 2018: AIDA Pool World Championship, Belgrade, Serbia 2019: AIDA Depth World Championship, Villefranche sur Mer, France 2021: AIDA Depth World Championship, Limassol, Cyprus 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,