AIDA Canada is proud to introduce the following athletes as the members of Team Canada for the 2012 Team World Championships (Villefranche-sur-Mer, Nice, France – September 08 – 16). They are (in alphabetical order):

Women:
Jennifer Balfour
Natalie Doduc
Nathalie Hébert
Jill Yoneda

Men:
Philippe Beauchamp
Marc-André Tratch
William Winram

Coach selection will start shortly and appropriate information will be available through the forum.

In this 20th anniversary of the creation of AIDA International we hope this event will be a great opportunity for our athletes to come together and represent the vibrant community of Canadian freedivers from coast to coast.

For more information on selection, please visit the National Team Selection page for more details.

Team Canada welcomes your support. All donations will help offset the travel and competition costs.

For more information on the world championships, please visit the organizer’s website.

AIDA Canada is the Canadian national representation of the international federation of AIDA (Association internationale pour le développement de l’apnée), the organisation which governs the competitive sport of freediving and ratifies national and world records.

For more information on the AIDA International 2011 awards, follow this link.

The AIDA Canada board is hence proud to introduce its newest AIDA Instructors (in alphabetical order):

Philippe Beauchamp (Montreal)
Started freediving in 2007, joined the Montreal Apnea Club (CASM) and has been a member ever since.  He is currently a member of CASM’s board or directors.  He became interested in competition after attending a workshop with William Winram in 2008.  Attended Nationals in 2009 and was part of the safety team which was selected for the World Championships in Bahamas in 2009. After taking another workshop with Winram, Philippe’s interest in freediving education grew stronger and together with Francois Leduc he co-founded Montreal’s freediving school Apnea city.  Interested in helping others discover freediving as a sport and as a new way to experience the world, Philippe underwent his AIDA Instructor training in July 2011 in Montreal and Flintquote, Quebec.

Soren Frederiksen (Toronto)
Soren started snorkeling with his dad at age 6 and has since spent countless hours in pools, lakes and oceans enjoying the underwater world. He joined Freedive Toronto in 2005 and participated in his first Canadian Nationals in 2006. Part of the Safety freediver team for the 2009 World Championship in Bahamas, Soren is also a Scuba Diver, CPR and O2 Provider. A member of the organizing committee for the Canadian National Freediving Championship 2011, he is also a board member of Freedive Toronto and AIDA Canada as well as an AIDA International judge.  Soren underwent his AIDA Instructor training in July 2011 in Toronto and Parry Sound, Ontario. His focus as an instructor is beginner snorkelers and intermediate freedivers.

Marie-Odile Hogue (Montreal)
Quebec-city born, Marie-Odile started her underwater career as a synchronized swimmer between 1992-2000 where she moved on to the Provicial level with the Synchro-Élite club from her home town.  In 2005, she discovered freediving while she was studying nutrition at the University of Montreal. Marie-Odile’s learning curve in freediving was fast thanks to her extensive experience in her former sport and she started breaking records in her first competition in 2006. She has medaled at every national championships since 2009. Marie-Odile is a board member of CASM and an instructor for Apnea City. She underwent her AIDA Instructor training in July 2011 in Montreal and Flintquote, Quebec.

Martin Lebrun (Montreal)
Martin started freediving in early 2009 and attended his first competition during the 5th Cup of Montreal in April (Pool Nationals) of that year followed by the Depth Nationals held in Flintquote. As he continued to progress in the sport, he was selected to be part of the 2009 safety team in the world depth championship in the Bahamas. In April 2010, he volunteered once again to provide safety at the Nationals competition, namely the 6th Cup of Montreal. A professional firefighter, he applied to take the AIDA Instructor training and was selected. Martin underwent his AIDA Instructor training in July 2011 in Montreal and Flintquote, Quebec.

François Leduc (Montreal)
President of AIDA Canada and former President of Club d’Apnée Sportive de Montréal (CASM) of which he has been a member since 2003 , François has taught several courses, overseen training and organized many competitions, recreational outings and special events. He is a mentor and teacher to many and is an important leader in the Quebec freediving community. His leadership skills are an asset to the sport, both at a regional and national level. He is an AIDA International judge and the co-founder of Montreal’s freediving school Apnea City. François underwent his AIDA Instructor training in July 2011 in Montreal and Flintquote, Quebec.

Doug Sitter (Toronto)
Avid freediver from the time he started to swim, a long-time underwater rugby and hockey player, Doug was a founding member of Freedive Toronto in 2002 and developed comprehensive training and mentorship programs for the club. He has devoted countless hours to the development of the sport in Canada. Doug is a former Team Canada member, PADI Diver Master and First Aid, CPR and O2 Provider instructor. Doug organized and was in charge of training the safety team for the Aida World Championship in the Bahamas 2009. He has developed live underwater to surface cameras so many more people can enjoy these sports. Current VP for AIDA Canada, President of Freedive Toronto, Doug underwent his AIDA Instructor training in July 2011 in Toronto and Parry Sound, Ontario.

Sergei Timoshenko (Toronto)
In 2008, Sergei joined the Freedive Toronto Club where he is currently Vice-President.  He was trained and selected to be a Safety Freediver at the 2009 World Championship in the Bahamas. In 2011, Sergei was a member of the organizing committee for the Canadian National Freediving Championships in Toronto.  He is a rescue scuba diver, EFR and O2 Provider and currently completing his PADI Dive Master certification. Keen to share his passion, Sergei has brought his two children Yaroslava and Sergei Jr to the sport of freediving and Yaroslava is a regional champion.  Sergei underwent his AIDA Instructor training in July 2011 in Toronto and Parry Sound, Ontario.

Andrew Walus (Toronto)
Born in Poland in 1957 in a city that was far away from a sea or any decent sized lake, Andrew spent many hours in a pool in his local club as a child. He was a lifeguard and took to sailing and scuba diving after his family moved closer to the Baltic Sea.  Many years after he moved to Canada, he rented the film The Big Blue” and his water adventures started again.  He looked up “freediving” and came across Freedive Toronto and soon found himself back in the water.  Since then, he attended a few competitions, with changing luck, but somehow managed to fulfil his goal – to be a better diver tomorrow then he is today. Andrew underwent his AIDA Instructor training in July 2011 in Toronto and Parry Sound, Ontario.

To find out more about AIDA Canada’s AIDA Education initiative, please read the following post.

True to its name* and mandate, AIDA Canada has always been committed to the safe development of breath-hold diving activities, whether recreational or competitive.

Shortly after its incorporation, AIDA Canada set out to develop and implement a specific program dedicated to the training of safety freedivers. At the helm of this program is Doug Sitter, Freedive Toronto President, who designed and implemented it. Over the course of months, he trained and prepared eight individuals from Ontario, Quebec and British Columbia.  Doug and his group were selected to provide safety at the 2009 Freediving World Championships in the Bahamas, where they were soon deemed the best freediving safety divers team, the ultimate recognition.

AIDA Canada’s other priority is freediving education.  Without proper freediving education, no breath-hold diving activity is safe. While few agencies exist within the sport of freediving, the AIDA system was not developed until recently in Canada. Indeed, about a year ago, the AIDA Canada Board brought up concerns to the AIDA International Board about the shortage of AIDA Instructor Trainers (ITs). The AIDA Canada Board explained that short of flying qualified Canadian candidates overseas for training there would be the need for allocating a specific IT for Canada. It turns out that thanks to AIDA Canada’s initiative, AIDA International has since implemented a new plan to promote AIDA Education worldwide.

This is how:

Importance of AIDA Education and Instructor Trainers

AIDA International considered the request made by AIDA Canada. At that time, AIDA International totaled approximately ten AIDA ITs world-wide, only about half of them actively teaching, a number too low to meet the education needs of AIDA National members such as AIDA Canada and its membership.

To address this issue, AIDA International’s President, Kimmo Lahtinen, and the AIDA Board made the development of AIDA’s Instructor Trainer program a strategic goal for AIDA in 2011. In order to provide and receive adequate freediving education, AIDA Nationals and their divers require reasonable access to AIDA Instructor Trainers (ITs), who can train AIDA Instructors, as well as teach other AIDA courses.

More AIDA Instructor Trainers

To remedy this situation, the AIDA International Board set both short term and long term goals for increasing the numbers of AIDA Instructor Trainers: in the short term (next 1-2 years), the goal was to have an AIDA Instructor Trainer per AIDA National; in the long term, AIDA’s goal would be to develop Instructor Trainers organically: by instructors moving up through the ranks of the AIDA education system (Instructor -> Master Instructor -> Instructor Trainer) by teaching, as well as judging, competing, and contributing to their AIDA National. The goal is to have an AIDA IT in each country with an AIDA National, and sufficient Instructors to ensure that competition keeps course fees reasonable. These goals parallel those of other dive agencies, which have significant numbers of instructor trainers worldwide.


Strategic Role of Instructor Trainers; Instructor Trainer Characteristics

Instructor Trainers serve a strategic role for AIDA (as they do for other dive agencies), being highly visible representatives of AIDA, contributing to the Education Committee (EC) and to the quality of educational materials, and acting as role models for students, instructors, and divers generally. Because of this strategic role, it is important that each AIDA Instructor Trainer have a number of key characteristics: freediving expertise, teaching expertise, contribution to their AIDA National and/or AIDA International, competition experience, (preferably) judge experience, and the judgment and commitment expected of the highest level representatives of the AIDA Education System.


Candidate in Canada

In order to meet the immediate need for Instructor Trainers in many countries, AIDA International reach out to AIDA Nationals to propose candidates who already had extraordinary levels of freediving, teaching and other relevant skills.  Hence, AIDA Canada proposed William Winram as a qualified candidate. Key criteria were his freediving expertise (world-class athlete with international competition experience and several medals during world championships; lends his breath-hold diving skills to support research on large marine animals), teaching expertise (has been teaching specialty freediving courses world-wide since 2005; designs individual training programs; has taught at a post-secondary level), founder of AIDA Canada and board member 2009-2011, member of the Technical commission for AIDA International 2008-2009.


Selection and Training for Canada’s Instructor Trainer

Through the Instructor Trainer program,  AIDA International not only intends to increase the number of AIDA Instructor Trainers, but also to increase the quality of AIDA Instructor Trainers. The EC reviewed AIDA Canada’s proposal and made its recommendations to the Board. William Winram’s candidacy was approved by the AIDA International Board on the condition that he would, at a minimum, need to participate in an AIDA Instructor course, to learn AIDA teaching techniques, to gain experience teaching instructors, and to make contributions to AIDA educational materials. William Winram fully committed to these conditions and in January 2011 travelled to Greece to undertake his training (the course was an Instructor/Instructor Trainer course).

Selection and Training for Canada’s new instructors

Throughout the spring, he co-taught several AIDA courses. Once William Winram’s Intructor Trainer status was approved by AIDA International, he offered to train qualifying candidates in BC, Ontario and Quebec, on the condition that there would be a minimum of 2 people in each location. Candidates would only share the cost of his travel and receive the training free of charge. All qualifying candidates used their vacation time to attend this intensive certification process. They were selected for their diving and teaching background.  In the summer, his AIDA Instructor Trainer status in hand, William Winram travelled back to Canada and donated his time to teach a total of eight instructor candidates (4 in Ontario and 4 in Quebec). This initial training has yielded 8 new AIDA instructors in Canada. The program is ongoing and the goal is to have more instructors trained in other parts of Canada.

More about these eight new AIDA Instructors soon.

*AIDA Canada is the national governing body designated by AIDA International: Association Internationale pour le Développement de l’Apnée – International Association for the Development of Apnea

The Fourth Mediterranean World Cup wrapped up after three consecutive days of competition during which the athletes were free to choose the discipline in which they wished to compete.

Relatively new comer Canadian competitor Natalie Doduc was right to take time off work (she is a software engineer at Google’s London office). She easily added 6 meters to her Constant Weight (CWT) and 10 meters to her Free Immersion (FIM).
Her performances are as following: Sept 12, 35m CWT; Sept 13, 30m FIM; Sept 14, 37m FIM.

AIDA Canada looks forward to seeing Natalie dive with a proper 3mm wetsuit as all the above-mentioned dives were realized with a 5mm wetsuit in 28°C water…

With his 80 meters in Constant Weight without Fins (CNF), William Winram placed second at the Fourth Mediterranean World Cup.

Congratulations to both athletes !

All results can be seen here:
4th Mediterranean World Cup 2011 – Kalamata day 1
4th Mediterranean World Cup 2011 – Kalamata day 2
4th Mediterranean World Cup 2011 – Kalamata day 3

Natalie Doduc

William Winram

The dive site is nestled in the Messinian Bay, one of the largest and deepest bays in the Peloponnese, which makes for a very protected location. In the morning, a glassy lake-like turquoise water is awaiting the divers, with 29° C for surface temperatures.

Today was the first day of competition. One of the advantages of the format of the World Cup is that athletes choose which depth discipline they wish to compete in. Natalie logged a new personal best with 35 meters in Constant Weight and William got a white card with an 80 meter dive in the discipline of Constant Weight without fins.

Congratulations to both.

There are two more days of competition tomorrow and Wednesday, so stay tuned for updates.

Kelly Smith having just broken the STA record

During his participation to the DejaBlue2 freediving competition in the Cayman Islands, Kelly Smith from Langley, BC broke the Static National Record, one of the longer-lasting records priorly set by Luc Gosselin of Port Coquitlam, BC, in July 2004. On May 12, 2011, Kelly put an additional 5 seconds to the former record bringing it to a astounding 7 minutes and 27 seconds.

A former Paralympic Marathon Silver Medalist and National Team Athlete, Kelly is no stranger to competition. With an impressive athletic history Kelly has enjoyed many different sports and adventures, the latest being freediving. AIDA Canada Board Member Nikkey Ward interviewed Kelly about setting the new record and his experience with freediving.

NW: How did you get into freediving in the first place?
KS: “Definitely my fiancee Jill, she introduced me to training and the dynamics of the sport. As a kid and adult, I always enjoyed the challenge of holding my breath but I didn’t know there was such a large organized community here in Canada, I thought it was more a European sport. It really got my curiosity going, so she signed me up for a course and we’ve been diving together since. Its great !”

NW: Did you go to DejaBlue2 with the goal of breaking the national record?
KS: “It was a goal at the beginning of this year but I have so much respect for the athletes of the sport who have set these records and I didn’t believe I had the right training in yet to do it at DejaBlue2.
My goal going down to the competition was to have fun and do my best. While down there I continued to add more to my warm up routine and I was consistently hitting 6:45 but still felt I had more I could do, that’s when I knew I could do 7 min and maybe the record later”.

NW: Do you think you will try for the World Record?
KS: “(Laughs) It might be a bit of a leap… I plan on setting my goals as they become realistic. I have more things to add to my training but I think 8 minutes next is realistic”.

NW: How did you feel during your attempt?
KS: “The beginning was very relaxing, I was anticipating what was coming and accepting it as part of the process. The first sign of discomfort came at 4min30sec so my confidence was feeling pretty good. At 5min30sec, I got a diaphragmatic contraction and then at 6min30sec I had full on contractions but I know my body and the signs so I was feeling good and my signals were still strong. Before the static, I told my coach, if I reach 7 minutes to give me a tap every 10 seconds, at 7min20sec I had a hard signal but knew I was 2 seconds away and I really wanted to get those extra seconds so I held out. And then at 7 minutes and 27 seconds, I could hear everyone yelling and I came up just in time, I had definitely pushed it to the max on that one!”.

NW: Do you try and not think about anything during your static or have a strategy of telling yourself a story?
KS: “It is very meditative for me, that is why I think I enjoy it so much. I focus on my heart rate (trying to get it to slow down) and then focus on controlling the contractions when they come. If I have anything in my head at all it is a song, one by Sarah McLachlan. When I had my accident (note by NW: spinal cord injury that left him partially paralyzed) I was in the emergency ward of the hospital for 2 months and had a terrible time sleeping but I would listen to this CD of hers and it would help me sleep. So now I am kind of conditioned to relax when I hear it”.

NW: Being a former Paralympian and coming from a competitive background are you used to the pressures of competition?
KS: “Yes, I feel pretty comfortable organizing my thoughts and energy to be ready for competition. But freediving is totally different from racing. In racing you want to have a little edge before because you don’t want to be flat for the race. In freediving, it’s all about being confident, focused and totally relaxed, holding back any nervous energy that could affect your technique and heart rate. But I am comfortable with the pressure of competition and I felt calm”.

NW: Do you compete often and is that the aspect of the sport you most enjoy?
KS: “I like both recreational and competition. I see people going to 80 meters of depth and feel jealous because I want to know what that feels like. I also like the challenge of pushing personal limits in competition because you are doing it for yourself and that really allows you to do your best. I have been recreational diving in Hawaii and the Cayman Islands but I haven’t yet gotten into Vancouver’s water. We’ll see how this summer goes, maybe I’ll get a chance to see what’s below this murky green ocean of ours. I’ve been told there’s lots to see, unique to here”.

NW: Do you find freediving a compliment to your other more adrenaline packed sports – is it more about relaxing for you?
KS: “Before I knew a lot about the sport I thought it was really extreme, and I think depth can feel that way a bit at first because your diving down and away from your next breath of air…. it can be scary thinking about it. But now that I have been exposed to the safety precautions taken in this sport with safety divers and other recovery safety systems in place, I feel much more relaxed. It’s not like some extreme sports I’ve done, where if you mess up you have a greater chance of being really hurt and a long way from help. So, it may not be a full on an adrenaline rush but you definitely you get a high from doing it”.

NW: Any training techniques you are going to work on over the summer?
KS: “Firstly I’m going to keep learning from others around me. And for sure I am going to work on better cardio conditioning. I feel fortunate to have a large lung capacity which is very beneficial but my cardio is not as strong as it could be right now. In good shape my resting heart rate is a low 40 where as right now it is around 60. I am also going to work on breathing tables- I haven’t done them yet, they take a bit more time and dedication. I feel like I have my breathe-up and prep pretty dialed, I added stretching (diaphragm stuff) to it and I also do some reverse packing beforehand. Just preparing the lungs for the breath-hold.”

NW: What is next for you, competition wise – do you plan on going to Nationals?
KS: “I would really like for myself and Jill to go to Nationals and compete with Canada’s best but it doesn’t look like I will get the time off of work, August is a really hard time to get any time off at my job. But we will see what competition opportunities come up in the fall.”

NW: Any advice, or thoughts for freedivers currently in training for the summer competitions?
KS: “I am really just humble and have so much respect for other freedivers. I feel like I am still the guy that’s learning but I am so thankful for the support and encouragement I have had along the way. As for words, how is this:
- You never know what you’re capable of until you put all the pieces together -”

The 2011 Freediving Canadian Nationals wrapped up in the wee hours of the morning Tuesday as the athletes, safety divers, judges and volunteers celebrated a very well-run and exciting competition!

Spanning three days, it offered the twenty or so athletes from Ontario, Quebec, British Columbia and … Russia, the opportunity to challenge themselves in four breath-hold diving disciplines, combining all three pool disciplines with the open water challenge called constant weight apnea.

Miss Toronto

Miss Toronto in the flesh

After having sweated the indoor performances at the Etobicoke Olympium over the week-end, Monday brought its share of fun aboard the Miss Toronto, a seventy-two foot long yacht specially chartered for the event, complete with a very cute stewardess.

Once on board, it took about an hour cruise on Lake Ontario to reach our diving location. The weather was fantastic and the views of the coast with Toronto in the background were mesmerizing. After the organizers finished setting up the diving lines and the platform, the competition started with announced performances ranging from 15 meters to 90 meters.

Constant Weight Apnea, with a view

The athletes did their dry warm up on the Miss Toronto and then jumped in with the friendly safety divers working the training lines off of the platform. The latter also served as support for the in-water counterballast system, the ultimate sonar – which kept track of everything and everyone underwater – and last but not least, it was also home to some mighty royal seating for the judges.

Friendly safety diver, Dmitry

Later, when we were all back on land, it was time for some to catch a plane, and for all the others it was time come out and celebrate. At the aptly named Toronto’s Victory Café, we were greeted by the band Prince Perry and the Gladstones, great grub and plenty of liquid gold on tap. We all waited for Freedive Toronto organizers extraordinaire, Doug and Soren, to arrive back from their boat towing duties before handing off the medals. Congratulatory kisses courtesy of AIDA International judges Marcello and Michèle.

Canadian National Crew, Volunteers and Judges

Winners: Marie-Odile Hogue (1), Yaroslava Timoshenko (2), Jen Balfour (3 - not in picture)

Winners: Marc-André Tratch (3), Philippe Beauchamp (2), Alexey Molchanov (1)

A special note and thank you to Alexey Molchanov who flew from Russia to attend these National Championships. The partner of Canadian national record holder Jana Strain, totalled 265 points (60 points over the second rank) over 3 disciplines (200 meters in Dynamic, 150 meters in Dynamic without fins and 90 meters in Constant weight).

Last but not least, congratulations to Quebec champions Marie-Odile Hogue and Philippe Beauchamp whose performances won them the Canadian Champion title.

2011 Canadian Champions Marie-Odile and Philippe

Congratulations to all participants and organizers for a job well done !

2011 Canadian Championships Jury: Marcello de Matteis, Italy; Matthieu Guihard, Canada; Guillaume Latzko-Toth, Canada; Michèle Monico, Switzerland. All results visible on Freedive Central.

AIDA Canada is the Canadian national representation of AIDA International (Association internationale pour le développement de l’apnée), the international federation which governs the competitive sport of freediving and ratifies national and world records.

Stay tuned for the update on the constant weight performances from today.