hi ivo - i think many expect the worst because there is already such a barrier to entry on many pools - here in the US it is next to impossible to get a municipal pool to allow us to train - and some systems like YMCA have banned any breath-hold training outright (yet they allow UW hockey which IMHO is far more dangerous!!!)
Yes, you are right. And I think this is exactly the domain where AIDA should help. Finally AIDA is the association for the development of apnea, so helping freedivers with the access to the pools should be the primary goal for all national AIDA organisations, as well as for the international AIDA.
How to do it? Well, we could have a look at some of the relatively successful national organisations such as the FFESSM in France, or FIPSAS in Italy. We would have absolutely no chance to train in any pools either if we were not associated to the FFESSM. It is possible only thanks to the know-how, and the warranties of the FFESSM, and thanks to their insurance contracts with one of the major national insurance agency (AXA). In this way many clubs have a quite inexpensive access to the public pools (some of them have even free access).
The FFESSM (CMAS) is a state recognized association. The instructor training includes also information about legal responsibilities. It includes state certified apnea-specific CPR training. Each FFESSM licensee is automatically insured for any accidents in the pool by the AXA agency. The FFESSM gives a legal and organisation help to clubs, etc, etc.
All this is mostly missing at AIDA, at least in the countries I have the experience with. We should establish a working group that will prepare a package and a how-to manual for people trying to found a club. It should include legal advices, strategies and letter templates for the contact with municipalities, pool managements, insurance agencies, and other bureaucrats. AIDA should attempt to create a general contract with some insurance agency, that would offer some warranties also toward the pool owners. AIDA instructor licences should mandatory include state-approved CPR courses. AIDA should enforce regular safety accident drills (like the FFESSM does). AIDA should have clear directives for the safety during trainings - setting the maximal number of freedivers per instructor, define which level of instructor is needed for which type of training, defining the minimal surveillance (for example we have to have a dedicated life-guard + an instructor who is not training himself in the same time with others). AIDA should have legal advisers helping in complicated cases. AIDA should keep statistics about accidents, and have documents ready clearly demonstrating to the authorities that qualified freediving prevents accidents, while uneducated unorganized freediving (that is impossible to ban anyway) poses the main risk, hence showing them that it is in their own interest to support organized freediving. AIDA should have documents, fliers, and brochures for the contact with schools and the general public promoting safe principles, and warning against the most serious risks of freediving (like diving alone, hyperventilating, etc) - I think this kind of public action would change the image of AIDA, and would help with the acknowledgement of freediving as a serious sport, not an adrenalin hazard that it is currently looked at.
