Natalia Molchanova


Natalia Vadimovna Molchanova was a Russian champion free diver, multiple world record holder, and the former president of the Russian Free Dive Federation. She has been described as "possibly the world’s greatest freediver".
On 2 August 2015 she went missing in Formentera while giving a private lesson. Search efforts were abandoned on 5 August and she was presumed dead.

Personal life

Molchanova was born in 1962 in Ufa, Bashkortostan, then part of the Soviet Union. Molchanova had a son Alexey and daughter Oksana.

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. At the 2007 Freediving World Championships in Maribor, Slovenia, her winning time in the static discipline was better than the winning male gold medal. In September 2009, she became the first woman to pass 100 meters diving with constant weight, in a dive to 101 meters in Sharm el Sheikh, Egypt. Molchanova was also the first woman to dive on one breath through the Blue Hole arch in Dahab, Egypt. Her record was a dive of 127 metres.
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.

Disappearance

On 2 August 2015, she was reported missing after giving a private lesson dive near Formentera, Spain. She went down to a depth of 40 metres, 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. As of 4 August, search and rescue efforts continued, but she was presumed dead by the search party, including her son Alexey Molchanov.
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.

World records

ApneaAssociationRecordDateLocation
CNFAIDA70 m15 May 2014Dahab
FIM91 m21 Sep 2013Kalamata
CNF69 m16 Sep 2013Kalamata
STAAIDA9:02"28 Jun 2013Belgrade
DYN234 m28 Jun 2013Belgrade
DNF182 m27 Jun 2013Belgrade
CNF68 m25 April 2013Dahab
VWT127 m6 Jun 2012Sharm
CNF66 m8 May 2012Dahab
FIM88 m24 Sep 2011Kalamata
CWT101 m22 Sep 2011Kalamata
CWT100 m16 April 2011Blue Hole
VWT125 m16 June 2010Kalamata
DYN225 m25 April 2010Moscow
CNF62 m3 Dec 2009Blue Hole
FIM90 m*27 Sep 2009Sharm
CWT101 m*25 Sep 2009Sharm
STA8:23"21 August 2009Aarhus
DNF160 m20 August 2009Aarhus
DYN214 m5 October 2008Lignano
FIM85 m27 July 2008Crete
CWT95 m25 July 2008Crete
CNF60 m12 June 2008Dahab
FIM82 m10 June 2008Dahab
DNF149 m7 July 2007Maribor
STA8:00"6 July 2007Maribor
DYN205 m5 July 2007Maribor
FIM80 m3 June 2006Dahab
DYN200 m23 April 2006Moscow
STA7:30"22 April 2006Moscow
DNF131 m20 December 2005Tokyo
CNF55 m7 November 2005Dahab
FIM78 m5 November 2005Dahab
CWT86 m3 September 2005Villefranche
DNF124 m25 August 2005Renens
STA7:16"25 August 2005Renens
DYN178 m25 August 2005Renens
DYN172 m24 April 2005Moscow
DNF108 m23 April 2005Moscow
DYN155 m25 April 2004Moscow
DYN150 m26 May 2003Limassol

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