Natalia Molchanova, 53, widely regarded as the greatest free diver in history, was reported missing in the Balearic Sea near Spain after diving with three others there on Sunday, according to her son, Alexey Molchanov, and the global federation for free diving.
Molchanova, a Russian who holds dozens of world records, did not surface after a recreational dive to about 35m without fins off the coast of Formentera, an island near Ibiza. Her record in that discipline, in which divers use the breaststroke to swim as deeply as possible on a single breath, is 71m, set in May in Dahab, Egypt. She set the record along a line used to measure depth and to tether the diver in case of emergency.
On Sunday, she was diving recreationally without such a line 3.2km west of La Savina at Poniente de es Freus, a part of the sea where currents at the surface and at depth can be unpredictable and powerful.
“The world has lost its greatest free diver,” said Will Trubridge, a 15-time world-record holder in the sport. “I don’t think anybody would dispute that.”
When Molchanova failed to surface after her dive on Sunday, her fellow divers conducted a brief search before calling for help via radio. A flotilla of private boats and the local coast guard deployed. Air support was added and the search lasted until dark. It resumed on Monday morning.
Molchanova remained missing on Tuesday, when the search expanded to include the use of underwater robots capable of searching a radius of nearly 805km at depth.
The water temperature in the area was about 26.1oC, although a layer of water known as a thermocline can be up to 10oC cooler about 20m below the surface. Such a variance can shock a diver’s system.
“This is something that nobody in their worst nightmare could ever imagine would happen,” said Kimmo Lahtinen, the president of the global federation for free diving, AIDA International. “She was a free diving superstar and we all thought nothing could harm her. Nothing could happen to her, but, you know, we are playing with the ocean, and when you play with the ocean you know who is the strongest one.”
Molchanova was first a competitive swimmer. After shifting to free diving after she was 40, she went on to set 41 world records and claim 23 world champion titles.
Free diving includes three pool disciplines: static apnea, in which a diver goes facedown in a pool and floats holding their 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 237m); and dynamic no fins, in which the diver does the same thing using a breaststroke (her record is 182m).
For Molchanova and Molchanov, who is also a competitive diver, the pool was always a mere training ground. They preferred to go deep.
“Compared to the ocean,” she once said, “the pool is like running on a treadmill versus running in the forest.”
There are three depth disciplines in competitive free diving. In constant weight apnea, a diver swims as deeply as possible on one breath with a monofin. Any weight they choose to wear on the way down, they must carry back to the surface.
Molchanova became the only woman in the sport’s history to break the mythical 100m barrier, at the world championships in Kalamata, Greece, in 2013.
The same year, Molchanov set a men’s record in the same discipline with a dive to 128m.
Molchanova also holds the no-fins record and the record for free immersion, in which a diver pulls along a line to depth and back again to the surface. Her record is 91ms.
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