The upcoming 6th AIDA Individual World Depth Championships will be held on Long Island, Bahamas from November 25 to December 5, 2009. This is promising to be one of the most exciting depth competitions to date.

The competition features fifty-one athletes that are considered among the best in the world and the freediving community is expecting new world records and many exciting dives. For a competition this challenging the organizers wanted to ensure they could offer the most highly trained and competent safety team possible, so they turned to AIDA Canada.

Doug Sitter (Freedive Toronto) developed an in-depth training and testing program to pick the best candidates from across Canada and train them as an elite safety team. Members were selected after a rigorous trial process that included both classroom and in-water testing. Further testing and grading continued over the AIDA Canada 2009 National Depth Championships in Thetford Mines, Quebec, during which the team provided all of the safety requirements.

Since then the members have continued honing their skills and teamwork in preparation for the World Championships in November.

AIDA Canada is proud to be sending the very best team possible to the World Depth Championships. Comprised of members from across the country, here is our safety team:

To follow the competition, go to http://www.verticalblue.net/events/

Doug Sitter, Toronto

Soren Frederiksen, Toronto

Philippe Beauchamp, Montreal

Martin Lebrun, Montreal

Aaron Wood and Sergei Timoshenko, Toronto

Matt Townsend, Vancouver