The Spanish Federation of Underwater Activities (, FEDAS) is the governing body in the field of Spanish aquatic sports. As of 2023, the federation has 897 registered clubs and 31,828 federated athletes.
It is a voting member of the
Confédération Mondiale des Activités Subaquatiques (CMAS) .
History
After
World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, 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
Apnea (also spelled apnoea in British English) is the temporary cessation of breathing. During apnea, there is no movement of the muscles of inhalation, and the volume of the lungs initially remains unchanged. Depending on how blocked the ...
* 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
*
Spearfishing
Spearfishing is fishing using handheld elongated, sharp-pointed tools such as a spear, gig, or harpoon, to impale the fish in the body. It was one of the earliest fishing techniques used by mankind, and has been deployed in artisanal fishi ...
*
Underwater Rugby
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
Underwater diving organizations
Underwater sports organizations
Sports governing bodies in Spain
Underwater hockey governing bodies
Finswimming
Underwater rugby
Underwater orienteering
Underwater diver organizations