International Association of Nitrox and Technical Divers (IANTD) is a SCUBA diving

Scuba diving

Scuba diving is a form of underwater diving in which a diver uses a scuba set to breathe underwater....

 organization concerned with certification and training in Enriched Air Nitrox diving, Technical diving

Technical diving

Technical diving is a form of scuba diving that exceeds the scope of recreational diving...

 and Free diving.

History

Dick Rutkowski

Dick Rutkowski

Richard "Dick" Rutkowski is a pioneer in the fields of hyperbaric medicine, diving medicine and diver training, especially in relation to the use of breathing gases....

, the former dive supervisor for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration , pronounced , like "noah", is a scientific agency within the United States Department of Commerce focused on the conditions of the oceans and the atmosphere...

 (NOAA), formed the International Association of Nitrox Divers (IAND) in 1985 to teach nitrox to sport divers. This program was developed through NOAA during his tenure. In 1992 Tom Mount

Tom Mount

Tom Mount is a pioneering technical diver. In 1991 Tom Mount joined Dick Rutkowski in the new organisation formed by Rutkowski, IANTD, dedicated to teaching Nitrox to recreational divers. In 1992 Tom was named President and Chief Executive Office of IANTD, a position that he held until 2005...

 became the President and CEO, and the name of the organization was changed to the International Association of Nitrox and Technical Divers (IANTD). The T was added when the European Association of Technical Divers merged with IAND. Billy Deans

Billy Deans (diver)

"Captain" Billy Deans is a pioneering wreck and technical diver. Although "Captain" is the nickname which is universally applied to Billy Deans, he is in fact a US Coast Guard rated captain up to 100 tons....

 has also served as a director of IANTD. Prior to founding IAND, Dick Rutkowski worked for Dr Wells and was director of the diver training at NOAA. This was the first organisation to offer international training to recreational scuba divers.

As it was the first program to offer certification in Enriched Air Nitrox, the company was kept at a slow, yet steady pace from 1985 through February 1992 with the support of Hyperbarics International. In 1991 Tom Mount joined Dick and IANTD became the first to offer training programs in all aspects of Technical diving

Technical diving

Technical diving is a form of scuba diving that exceeds the scope of recreational diving...

 (Advanced Nitrox, Deep Air

Deep diving

The meaning of the term deep diving is a form of technical diving. It is defined by the level of the diver's diver training, diving equipment, breathing gas, and surface support:...

, Technical Diver

Technical diving

Technical diving is a form of scuba diving that exceeds the scope of recreational diving...

, Cave

Cave diving

Cave diving is a type of technical diving in which specialized equipment is used to enable the exploration of caves which are at least partially filled with water. In the United Kingdom it is an extension of the more common sport of caving, and in the United States an extension of the more common...

 and Wreck

Wreck diving

Wreck diving is a type of recreational diving where shipwrecks are explored. Although most wreck dive sites are at shipwrecks, there is an increasing trend to scuttle retired ships to create artificial reef sites...

 Penetration, Normoxic Trimix, Trimix, Rebreather

Rebreather

A rebreather is a type of breathing set that provides a breathing gas containing oxygen and recycled exhaled gas. This recycling reduces the volume of breathing gas used, making a rebreather lighter and more compact than an open-circuit breathing set for the same duration in environments where...

s, etc.) as well as Free diving.