The Spanish Federation of Underwater Activities (, FEDAS) is the governing body in the field of Spanish aquatic sports. As of 2022, the federation has 895 registered clubs and 32,289 federated athlets.
It is a voting member of the
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) .
History
After
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
, there was a large increase in underwater sports in Spain, including scuba diving and spear fishing. In response, The National Office of Physical Education and Sports (the official body governing sports in Spain at that time) ordered the creation of "The Underwater Activities Committee" in 1947. The organization was initially integrated into the Spanish Federation of Fishing, taking the name of the Spanish Federation of Fishing and Underwater.
In 1959, the CMAS Underwater Committee along with other National Federations took part in the creation of a new international organization. In March 1967, due to the extraordinary importance reached by underwater activities in Spain, the Committee became independent from the Fisheries Federation, taking the name of the Spanish Federation of Underwater Activities (FEDAS).
Today it is the official body that governs spearfishing, scuba diving, finswimming, underwater orienteering, underwater photography, Underwater Hockey, Diving and Underwater Rugby competitions in Spain. In addition to recreational diving, Spain has numerous schools which organize scuba diving expeditions to further underwater archaeological research. The first autonomous immersion Spanish club (CRIS) was founded in 1952 in Barcelona. Since then, the number of Clubs and Centres has increased dramatically.
Beyond scuba diving, other activities such as swimming with fins and underwater orientation have been developed, including participation in international competition. There have also been great achievements in underwater photography, with people like Xavier Safont, Carlos Minguell, Carles Virgili or Jose Luis Gonzalez, among others, having reached the highest podium of the World Championship of Underwater Photography.
Other recently invented underwater sports such as Underwater Hockey, Underwater Rugby and Sport Diving competitions, are beginning to grow internationally as well.
Organization
FEDAS is currently organised into nine sports committees, a technical committee and three departments.
Sports committees
*
Apnea
* Hunting photo apnea
*
Sport Diving
*
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 Photo and Video.
*
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 ...
*
Underwater orienteering
Underwater orienteering is an underwater sport that uses recreational open circuit scuba diving equipment and consists of a set of individual and team events conducted in both sheltered and open water testing the competitors' competency in underw ...
*
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 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 ...
Technical Committee
The Technical Committee oversees the operation of the FEDAS diver training program (known as the National Diving School or Escuela Nacional De Buceo Deportivo).
Departments
* Judges and referees.
* Medical Committee.
* Scientific Diving.
Regional Federations
Each autonomous community (including the autonomous cities of Ceuta and Melilla) has its own federation. These federations operate their own administrations and organize their own competitions, but must adhere to state regulations from the Spanish Federation is. The regional federations are:
* Andalusia.
* Aragon.
* Balerares.
* Canary.
* Cantabria.
* Castile and León.
* Castilla-La Mancha.
* Catalonia.
* Valencia.
* Ceuta.
* Extremadura.
* Galicia.
* Community of Madrid.
* Melilla.
* Navarra.
* Asturias.
* Region of Murcia.
* Basque Country.
Delegations
* Rioja
References
External links
FEDAS websiteFEDAS Finswimming Committee webpageClub Nautico 'Delphis Goat Club' Andalucía– host of several national championships
{{DEFAULTSORT:Federacion Espanola de Actividades Subacuaticas
Diving organizations
Underwater sports organizations
Sports governing bodies in Spain
Underwater hockey governing bodies
Finswimming
Underwater rugby
Underwater orienteering
Diver organizations