Natalia Molchanova
 Natalia Molchanova at the 2009 Freediving World Championships | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born |
8 May 1962 Ufa, Bashkortostan, Soviet Union |
| Died |
2 August 2015 (aged 53) Ibiza, Spain |
| Residence | Moscow[1] |
| Sport | |
| Sport | Freediving |
| Club | Krokodil, Moscow |
Natalia Vadimovna Molchanova (Russian: Наталья Вадимовна Молчанова; 8 May 1962 – 2 August 2015) was a Russian champion free diver, multiple world record holder,[2] and the former president of the Russian Free Dive Federation. She has been described as "possibly the world’s greatest freediver".[3]
On 2 August 2015 she went missing during a recreational dive,[2] and is presumed to be dead after search efforts were abandoned on 5 August.[4]
Personal life
Molchanova was born in 1962 in Ufa, Bashkortostan, then part of the Soviet Union.[5] Molchanova has a son Alexey and daughter Oksana.[2]
Career
Molchanova was the world's most decorated free diver ever, holding 41 world records at the time of her presumed death and winning 23 gold medals during her lengthy career.[6] At the 2007 Freediving World Championships in Maribor, Slovenia, her winning time in the static discipline was better than the winning male gold medal.[7] In September 2009, she became the first woman to pass 100 meters (328 ft.) diving with constant weight, in a dive to 101 meters (301 ft.) in Sharm el Sheikh, Egypt.[8] Molchanova is also the first woman to dive on one breath through the Blue Hole arch in Dahab, Egypt.[9] Her record was a dive of 127 metres (417 ft.).[10]
She first trained in swimming, but semi-retired for approximately 20 years after giving birth. She resumed training, aged 40, and shifted from swimming to free diving. Her first free diving competition was the 2003 Russian championships in Moscow, where she set a national record. Her son is also a prominent free diving competitor. Molchanova later worked as a free diving instructor at the Russian State University of Physical Education, Sport, Youth and Tourism.[5]
Disappearance
On 2 August 2015, she was reported missing after a recreational dive near Ibiza, Spain.[2] She went down to a depth of 40 metres (131 ft.), not as deep as normal, but caught by a current, without weights, she is thought to have been taken down. She never came up for air. Initial rescue and recovery efforts were unsuccessful.[2] As of 4 August, search and rescue efforts continued, but she was presumed dead by the search party, including her son Alexey Molchanov.[11][2][12]
The Spanish Civil Code provides that a missing person by shipwreck or amid a dangerous activity shall be declared deceased in absentia three months after a missing report.[13]
World records
| Apnea | Record | Date | Location |
|---|---|---|---|
| FIM | 91 m | 21 Sep 2013 | Kalamata (Greece) |
| CNF | 69 m | 16 Sep 2013 | Kalamata (Greece) |
| STA | 9:02" | 28 Jun 2013 | Belgrade (Serbia) |
| DYN | 234 m | 28 Jun 2013 | Belgrade (Serbia) |
| DNF | 182 m | 27 Jun 2013 | Belgrade (Serbia) |
| CNF | 68 m | 25 April 2013 | Dahab (Egypt) |
| VWT | 127 m | 6 Jun 2012 | Sharm (Egypt) |
| CNF | 66 m | 8 May 2012 | Dahab (Egypt) |
| FIM | 88 m | 24 Sep 2011 | Kalamata (Greece) |
| CWT | 101 m | 22 Sep 2011 | Kalamata (Greece) |
| CWT | 100 m | 16 April 2011 | Blue Hole (Bahamas) |
| VWT | 125 m | 16 June 2010 | Kalamata (Greece)[1] |
| DYN | 225 m | 25 April 2010 | Moscow (Russia)[1] |
| CNF | 62 m | 3 Dec 2009 | Blue Hole (Bahamas)[1] |
| FIM | 90 m* | 27 Sep 2009 | Sharm (Egypt)[1] |
| CWT | 101 m* | 25 Sep 2009 | Sharm (Egypt)[1] |
| STA | 8:23" | 21 August 2009 | Aarhus (Denmark)[1] |
| DNF | 160 m | 20 August 2009 | Aarhus (Denmark)[1] |
| DYN | 214 m | 5 October 2008 | Lignano (Italy)[1] |
| FIM | 85 m | 27 July 2008 | Crete (Greece)[1] |
| CWT | 95 m | 25 July 2008 | Crete (Greece)[1] |
| CNF | 60 m | 12 June 2008 | Dahab (Egypt)[1] |
| FIM | 82 m | 10 June 2008 | Dahab (Egypt)[1] |
| DNF | 149 m | 7 July 2007 | Maribor (Slovenia)[1] |
| STA | 8:00" | 6 July 2007 | Maribor (Slovenia)[1] |
| DYN | 205 m | 5 July 2007 | Maribor (Slovenia)[1] |
| FIM | 80 m | 3 June 2006 | Dahab (Egypt)[1] |
| DYN | 200 m | 23 April 2006 | Moscow (Russia)[1] |
| STA | 7:30" | 22 April 2006 | Moscow (Russia)[1] |
| DNF | 131 m | 20 December 2005 | Tokyo (Japan)[1] |
| CNF | 55 m | 7 November 2005 | Dahab (Egypt)[1] |
| FIM | 78 m | 5 November 2005 | Dahab (Egypt)[1] |
| CWT | 86 m | 3 September 2005 | Villefranche (France)[1] |
| DNF | 124 m | 25 August 2005 | Renens (Switzerland)[1] |
| STA | 7:16" | 25 August 2005 | Renens (Switzerland)[1] |
| DYN | 178 m | 25 August 2005 | Renens (Switzerland)[1] |
| DYN | 172 m | 24 April 2005 | Moscow (Russia)[1] |
| DNF | 108 m | 23 April 2005 | Moscow (Russia)[1] |
| DYN | 155 m | 25 April 2004 | Moscow (Russia)[1][14] |
| DYN | 150 m | 26 May 2003 | Limassol (Cyprus)[1] |
- Note 1: The two records from 2009, 101 m and 90 m, were repealed by the federation eight months after they had been set, due to the introduction of a new rule, which was then applied retroactively.
- Note 2: Freediving#Competition defines the various Apnea codes. Record distances are in metres; duration times in minutes and seconds.
Summary:
- STA - 9 min. 02 sec.
- DYN - 234 m
- DNF - 182 m
- CWT - 101 m
- CNF - 69 m
- FIM - 91 m
- VWT - 127 m
Clarification:
- STA = Static apnea. Holding the breath as long as possible.
- DYN = Dynamic apnea with fins. Diving as far as possible with the use of fins or a monofin.
- DNF = Dynamic apnea without fins. Diving as far as possible without fins.
- CWT = Constant weight with fins. Diving as deep as possible with the use of fins or a monofin.
- CNF = Constant weight without fins. Diving as deep as possible without fins.
- FIM = Free immersion. Diving as deep as possible by pulling down and up the rope.
- VWT = Variable weight apnea. Using a sled for descent, pulling back up along a line or swimming up with or without fins.
- NLT = No-limits apnea. Using a sled for descent, and an inflatable bag for ascent, or any other method or technique.
References
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 Natalia Molchanova. apneamania.com
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 Skolnick, Adam (4 August 2015). "Free Diver Natalia Molchanova Descends for Fun, Then Vanishes". New York Times. Retrieved 5 August 2015.
- ↑ "Free-diving: Blue hole, black hole: A story of hubris and obsession". The Economist. 27 February 2016. Retrieved 27 February 2016.
- ↑ espnW news
- 1 2 Oksana Gredzheva. Чемпионка мира-2005 по фридайвингу Наталья МОЛЧАНОВА. free-diving.ru (interview in Russian)
- ↑ "Natalia Molchanova, Freediving Champion, Missing and Feared Dead". NBC News. 5 August 2015. Retrieved 5 August 2015.
- ↑ "Natalia Molchanova: World's most successful free-diver missing and feared dead after disappearing in Mediterranean". The Independent. 4 August 2015. Retrieved 5 August 2015.
- ↑ "New World Record – Molchanova CWT 101m". Deeper Blue. 24 September 2009. Retrieved 5 August 2015.
- ↑ "Natalia Molchanova: Freewater diving champion missing presumed dead following practice session in Ibiza". Mirror. 4 August 2015. Retrieved 5 August 2015.
- ↑ The Daily Telegraph, Friday 9 October 2015, Obituary [paper only], p.33
- ↑ "Champion diver is missing".
- ↑ Wilkinson, Alec, The Disappearance of the World’s Greatest Free Diver, New Yorker, August 8, 2015
- ↑ Spanish Civil Code
- ↑ McKie, N (2004). "Freediving in cyberspace.". Journal of the South Pacific Underwater Medicine Society. 34: 101–3. Retrieved 2013-10-05.
External links
 |
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Natalia Molchanova. |
- Official website (Russian)(English)
- Current Freediving World Records at International Association for the Development of Freediving (AIDA)
