So it was that one day Pelizzari and Renzo Mazzarri decided to compare notes with a group of freediving friends. Despite having different origins their goal was unanimous! A vision was born of a new freediving school that would be revolutionary with respect to the past and present. A school that espoused all the most valuable teaching, technical and scientific understanding in line with the experience of Umberto Pelizzari.
Other than Umberto and Renzo there were contributions from Angelo Azzinari and Marco Mardollo, who had already been experimenting with a new method of teaching apnea that summarised the evolution of the experiences of Mayol and Maiorca to arrive at the records of Umberto.
It was soon clear to all that freediving needed to be closely studied in order to respond to the many still unsolved questions, and a scientific group was formed, with Professors Ficini and Odone and Doctors Luigi Magno and Nicola Sponsiello.
Thus the school was formed: an association that unites research with the instruction of freediving. Apnea Academy: school for the instruction and research of subaquatic apnea. An oval symbol, bordered by the name of the association and its maxim allows for easy identification. In the centre are two dolphins, ancient symbols of the bond between man and the sea, and a reference to Mayol's concept of Homo delphinus and the idea of apnea for wellbeing.
The time came to put ideas into action, and the first AA Instructors course was organised on the island of Elba in 1996.
It was straight away a success. 45 candidates came together for seven days of intense work and sharing of experience. There were no minimum standards required to enter the course; candidates needed only to be capable apneists with a grand passion for freediving. Their motivations were varied; from those who truly wanted to teach apnea to those who wanted to participate in the course in order to acquire the techniques necessary to improve their own performance.
All candidate took home the conviction that apnea had been transformed! Precise techniques of respiration and relaxation, whether applied to static or dynamic apnea or freediving, were part of the new approach presented by the Apnea Academy staff. It was determined early on that these techniques were the strong points of the AA teaching system, and would advance the organisation in the years that followed.
The group developed, as did the awareness of the need to collect the learning of the Apnea Academy into a manual that would compose the base of the teaching theory. Newly graduated instructors began holding courses throughout Italy, achieving important results. Their experiences confirmed the validity of the teaching method and the necessity to expand and develop the many ideas that the 1 st instructor's course and subsequent discussions on technique, theory, and teaching methodology had generated.
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