Natalie Malchanova, World's Greatest Freediver Feared Dead
Highly regarded in her field, this great athlete is feared dead in the sea off the coast of Formentera
The 53 year old Russian mother of two holds numerous records, with 41 world records and 23 world champion titles. Molchanova was diving near the Balearic island of Formentera, near ibiza, when she failed to surface.
A statement issued jointly by the athlete’s family and AIDA International, the international body that regulates the sport of free-diving, said "Natalia Molchanova was recreationally freediving off the coast of Spain on August 2, 2015 when she was separated from her peers". Search efforts to try and locate her have been ongoing.
“She was diving without fins to around 30m to 40m and it is supposable that she got into strong underwater current,” said the statement. “She disappeared while diving approximately two miles northwest of the port of La Savina at Poniente de es Freus.”
The sport of free diving takes incredible skill, training and talent and includes three disciplines: static apnea, in which a diver goes face down in a pool and floats holding his or her breath as long as possible (Molchanova’s world record is 9 minutes 2 seconds); dynamic, in which a diver swims as many pool lengths as possible underwater on one breath with a monofin (her record is 237 meters, or about 778 feet); and dynamic no fins, in which a diver does the same thing using a breaststroke (her record is 182 meters, or almost 600 feet).
By last night (Tuesday) her son, Alexey Malchanov, said that they were not expecting to find his mother alive. Our thoughts go out to her family and friends.
