All Posts

The selection period has now closed, and we are pleased to announce the athletes who will be representing Belgium at the 2026 World Apnea Depth Championships, taking place in Limassol from 27 September to 10 October. Depth competition remains a relatively underrepresented practice in Belgium, which makes it especially encouraging to see new Belgian athletes stepping onto the international stage. Following a review of the applications received and performances achieved during

The 2026 AIDA Pool World Championships have come to an end in Budapest, and one thing is certain: this edition will remain carved in the memories of the entire Belgian team. For one week, more than 260 athletes from around the world gathered in the impressive Duna Arena complex to push their limits in all pool disciplines. The organisation lived up to the scale of the event: high-quality live broadcasts, underwater cameras, aerial views of the pool, a professional media team.

« At first, it was simply an act of self-care. » Pascale Gigon’s journey to the highest levels of freediving is anything but conventional. Far from the traditional sporting path, her story began as a search for personal well-being. A way of “putting her head underwater” during a particularly challenging period in her life. A former contemporary dancer now living in Brussels and originally from the Swiss Jura, she discovered competitive freediving later in life, transforming a

“Don’t stress, it’s only water.” Behind that sentence lies a man, a challenge, and a discipline that forgives nothing. A construction engineer and project director in Brussels, this father from Gerpinnes entered the competitive freediving scene with a simple and straightforward ambition: “I was approaching 50 and thought to myself: why not try to go to the World Championships?” Competitive journey and achievements A scuba diver for 25 years and a federal instructor within LIF

The call for applications to select the athletes who will represent Belgium at the 2026 World Apnea Depth Championships is now open. 📅 Dates: September 27 – October 10, 2026 📍 Location: Limassol, Cyprus This international event will bring together the world’s top freedivers across all depth disciplines: CWT, CWTB, FIM, CNF. 🏊 Who can apply? To submit your application for the AIDA Belgium national team, you must: be at least 18 years old on the first day of the competition;

You might expect a doctor to walk in wearing a crisp white coat, a slightly austere look, tortoiseshell glasses, and a stream of technical jargon. Instead, you meet Marie Hechtermans: a bright and unconventional figure in modern academia, driven by insatiable curiosity. A sharp mind, a great sense of humour, and a contagious passion for the mysteries of the human body underwater — as well as for sport and arts in all their forms. A young sports physician specialising in divin

Chronicles of a first dive: the AIDA Belgium 2026 National Championships On April 5th and 6th, 2026, Belgium wrote a new chapter in its sporting history: AIDA Belgium launched its first-ever national championships. Two competitions, two distinct atmospheres, one shared energy: to unite, raise the bar, and provide athletes with a stage worthy of their performances. With a third stage to come in Flanders, the goal is clear: to represent each linguistic community and establish f

Inclusion in sport: little Belgium as a compass in a world searching for meaning While debates on the inclusion of transgender athletes continue to stir the international sports scene, Belgium — with its characteristic blend of pragmatism and surrealism — has chosen a clear path: that of unconditional welcome. Without any intention of lecturing others, our freediving federation simply decided that water, the element that unites us, should never become a place of division. T

At a time when the United States, under the Trump administration, is experiencing a significant rollback in human rights , scientific research, education, migration policies, racial equality and gender equality, a new announcement was recently made: the International Olympic Committee has decided to reintroduce chromosomal testing for the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games. This decision effectively bans trans athletes from women’s events. This regression reflects a broader globa

Paula Bazilio – Vice President of AIDA Belgium, Coach of the Cucumber team “This sport is far more than performance — it’s a tool for health, therapy, and inclusion.” Living in Uccle for the past 13 years, Paula Bazilio is originally from Portugal and works at bPost as a trainer for field agents. She is also the founder of the freediving school Abyss Apnea, active for over a decade. She recently stepped into the role of AIDA Belgium Vice President, overseeing the Competitions

La période de sélection de l’équipe nationale belge est désormais terminée. Nous tenons à remercier chaleureusement tous les athlètes qui nous ont contactés avec enthousiasme et motivation. Nous avons été très inspirés par les nombreux messages que nous avons reçus de la part des apnéistes désireux.ses de représenter la Belgique.

"Once you’ve tasted that feeling of unity with the water, with yourself, freed from the ‘how many’, you are in presence." Spoken with calm clarity, these words encapsulate an entire philosophy. Far from the race for numbers, we met David, freediver and AIDA Belgium instructor, to whom the discipline is above all an inner journey — a reconnection to self through the “freediving bubbles” of childhood. Background and journey: from finance to inner depths Who could have guessed

AIDA Belgium est heureuse d’ouvrir aujourd’hui l’appel à candidatures pour la sélection des athlètes qui représenteront la Belgique aux 36e Championnats du Monde AIDA en piscine à Budapest.

As part of the Dive Expo weekend, don’t miss the chance to meet Elaine HICKS, author of Behind the Mask: A Freediver’s Guide to Nervous System Regulation, Recovery & Resilience.

Jean-Pol François (JP), founder of AIDA Belgium and a key figure in the French-speaking freediving world, embodies a life where passion becomes purpose, and breath becomes commitment.

The new Board of AIDA Belgium embodies a strong desire to redefine the contours of competitive freediving in Belgium, in line with today’s societal challenges.