The Underwater Society of America (USOA) is the peak body for
underwater sport and
recreational diving
Recreational diving or sport diving is diving for the purpose of leisure and enjoyment, usually when using scuba equipment. The term "recreational diving" may also be used in contradistinction to "technical diving", a more demanding aspect of ...
in the United States.
Organisation
The USOA is a membership-based organisation consisting of individuals, clubs and regional councils. Its day-to-day operations are controlled by an executive committee which reports to a board of governors and the delegates of the member councils and clubs.
Origins and history
The USOA was established by a number of regional organisations in 1959 after the founding of
Confédération Mondiale des Activités Subaquatiques
Confédération Mondiale des Activités Subaquatiques (CMAS) is an international federation that represents underwater activities in underwater sport and underwater sciences, and oversees an international system of recreational snorkel and scu ...
(CMAS) initially to organise spearfishing teams for international competition. Prior to its creation, national competition in spearfishing (or skindiving as it was and is still known) and
scuba diving
Scuba diving is a mode of underwater diving whereby divers use breathing equipment that is completely independent of a surface air supply. The name "scuba", an acronym for " Self-Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus", was coined by Chr ...
was organised by the National Competitive Skindivers Committee of the
Amateur Athletic Union
The Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) is an amateur sports organization based in the United States. A multi-sport organization, the AAU is dedicated exclusively to the promotion and development of amateur sports and physical fitness programs. It h ...
(AAU). The National Competitive Skindivers Committee has previously established in 1954 as an initiative of both the AAU and the International Underwater Spearfishing Association (IUSA) and was the body representing the United States at the foundation of CMAS.
Recognition
The USOA is a member of the following organisations - CMAS with affiliation to the sport, technical and scientific committees, the CMAS American Zone, the
Divers Alert Network (DAN), the
Diving Equipment and Marketing Association (DEMA) and the
United States Olympic Committee
The United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee (USOPC) is the National Olympic Committee and the National Paralympic Committee for the United States. It was founded in 1895 as the United States Olympic Committee, and is headquartered in Col ...
(USOC).
Underwater sport
USOA supports competition at all levels within the United States for the following underwater sports: competition scuba,
finswimming
Finswimming is an underwater sport consisting of four techniques involving swimming with the use of fins either on the water's surface using a snorkel with either monofins or bifins or underwater with monofin either by holding one's breath or ...
,
freediving
Freediving, free-diving, free diving, breath-hold diving, or skin diving is a form of underwater diving that relies on breath-holding until resurfacing rather than the use of breathing apparatus such as scuba gear.
Besides the limits of breath-h ...
,
spearfishing
Spearfishing is a method of fishing that involves impaling the fish with a straight pointed object such as a spear, gig or harpoon. It has been deployed in artisanal fishing throughout the world for millennia. Early civilisations were familia ...
,
underwater hockey
Underwater hockey (UWH), (also known as Octopush in the United Kingdom) is a globally played limited-contact sport in which two teams compete to manoeuvre a puck across the bottom of a swimming pool into the opposing team's goal by propelling ...
,
underwater photography
Underwater photography is the process of taking photographs while under water. It is usually done while scuba diving, but can be done while diving on surface supply, snorkeling, swimming, from a submersible or remotely operated underwater v ...
and
underwater rugby
Underwater rugby (UWR) is an underwater team sport. During a match two teams try to score a negatively buoyant ball (filled with saltwater) into the opponents’ goal at the bottom of a swimming pool. It originated from within the physical ...
. Competition is available at international level for all sports except for competition scuba.
Diver training
As of August 2013, the USOA does not offer diver training. During 2010, USOA entered in an agreement with the
Scuba Educators International (SEI) to permit SEI to issue
CMAS International Diver Training Certificates on its behalf.
Awards
The USOA both operates and participates in the following awards and recognition schemes.
It honours its own athletes with the Man & Woman Athlete of the Year being awarded for each sport and with all sports national champions being inducted in the All American Dive Team. There are also two underwater hockey sportsmanship awards - the Dan Wilkins Memorial Award for the National Championships and the Carl Judd Memorial Award for the Pacific Coast Championships.
The USOA was the original supporter of the
NOGI Award
The NOGI Awards is an award presented annually by the Academy of Underwater Arts and Sciences (AUAS) to diving luminaries and is "considered the Oscar of the ocean world." Selection of recipients is based on their record of accomplishments and ...
which is presumably named after the
New Orleans Grand Isle Fishing Tournament which included an underwater section and was created during the 1950s to recognise leaders in all forms of underwater diving. The NOGI awards scheme is now the responsibility of the
Academy of Underwater Arts and Sciences.
In the tradition of the NOGI award, the USOA also recognizes divers within the United States at the regional level with The Regional Divers of the Year Award in the categories of art, sports, education, science and service.
As an affiliate of the United States Olympic Committee (USOC), the USOA is eligible to nominate individuals for the
USOC Athlete of the Year.
The USOA also is a joint-founder and a sponsor of the
Women Divers Hall of Fame
The Women Divers Hall of Fame (WDHOF) is an international honor society. Its purpose is to honor the accomplishments of women divers, and their contributions to various fields of underwater diving. Full membership is restricted to nominees who h ...
.
International Bluewater Spearfishing Records Committee
The International Bluewater Spearfishing Records Committee (IBSRC) by agreement with the USOA operates as a ‘council of special interest’ within the USOA. The IBSRC was established in 1996 to promote ‘ethical, safe and sporting spearfishing practices, to establish uniform regulations for the compilation of world-bluewater gamefish records, and to provide basic spearfishing guidelines for use in bluewater contests and any other bluewater spearfishing activities worldwide.’
See also
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References
External links
Underwater Society of America homepageUSA Finswimming homepageUSA Underwater Hockey homepageUSA Underwater Rugby homepageInternational Bluewater Spearfishing Records Committee homepage
{{authority control
Sports governing bodies in the United States
Sports organizations of the United States
Diver organizations
Underwater sports organizations
Finswimming
Underwater hockey governing bodies
Underwater rugby
Sports organizations established in 1959
1959 establishments in the United States
Underwater sport in the United States