In the AIDA system there are five levels of safety certification:
Level 1 has only knowledge requirements, but the higher levels include performance challenges. The table shows a summary of the main challenges for Levels 2-5 and for Instructor, which, while teaching-focused, includes a heavy component of safety. Below that are the complete lists of challenges for each level.
| | Level 2 Intermediate | Level 3 Advanced | Level 4 Master | Level 5 Competition | Instructor | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Exam | 75% | 75% | 75% | 75% | 75% | | Breath-hold | 2:00 | 2:45 | 3:30 | | 4:00 | | Underwater Swim | 40m | 55m | 70m | 80m | 90m | | Dive | 10m | 21m | 28m | 35m | 40m | | Safety at depth | 7m | 15m | 20m | 25m | 25m | | Rescue | 5m | 10m | 20m | 20m | 25m |
Athletic challenges that don’t require depth, such as breath-holds and underwater swims, can be submitted by video. If you are submitting a challenge by video, please follow these guidelines:
Breath holds (“statics”) should be done on land, lying down in a comfortable place like your bed. You can film yourself with a stationary camera and you don’t need to have a buddy.
For underwater swims (“dynamics”) you must have a buddy. Your buddy should film you while swimming on the surface next to you. If you don’t have a waterproof camera, you can mount your camera at one end of the pool, as long it has a clear field of view of you and your buddy swimming next to you the whole time.
<aside> 💡 Your buddy must swim alongside you, rather than standing on the side of the pool.
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<aside> ⛔ Never swim underwater alone. Filming yourself swimming alone will result in immediate disqualification.
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