The National Association of Underwater Instructors (NAUI Worldwide) and Performance Freediving International (PFI) this week announced the development of a freediving training alliance.
NAUI Executive Director Dallas Edmiston had this to say to DeeperBlue.com:
“Freediving is an exciting and fast-growing sport and our members seek to remain at the forefront of safety and skill development. We recognize the need to ensure our standards and training programs are of the absolute highest quality, which is why we’ve sought this alliance with PFI, the recognized leader in freedive safety and training.”
Academic freedom is a hallmark of NAUI instruction and training and NAUI instructors have been teaching and training snorkelers and breath-hold divers in some form for more than 55 years, according to the training agency. NAUI published its first text on the subject in 1977.
That longstanding history notwithstanding, PFI has, over the last two decades, pioneered some of the greatest advances in safety and skill development in the sport.
PFI founder and President Kirk Krack told DeeperBlue.com:
“PFI has worked for two decades to develop and advance safety and performance in the sport of freediving. It’s our passion and it’s what we do. It is an honor for us to share our information and training methods with NAUI as they work to ensure their members are trained to the highest standard.”
NAUI’s Edmiston said:
“We are excited to be able to offer this opportunity to our membership. While we are in the initial stages of this collaboration, we plan on implementing this program to NAUI instructors and facilities worldwide in 2016.”
Stay tuned to DeeperBlue.com for more news on this exciting development.