Natalia Molchanova facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Natalia Molchanova

Natalia Molchanova at the 2009 Freediving World Championships
Personal information
Born	(1962-05-08)8 May 1962 Ufa, Bashkortostan, Soviet Union
Died	2 August 2015(2015-08-02) (aged 53) Formentera, Spain
Sport
Sport	Freediving
Club	Krokodil, Moscow

Natalia Vadimovna Molchanova (Russian: Наталья Вадимовна Молчанова; 8 May 1962 – 2 August 2015) was an amazing Russian freediver. She was known for holding many world records and winning lots of gold medals. People often called her "possibly the world’s greatest freediver."

Natalia's son, Alexey Molchanov, is also a champion freediver.

Sadly, Natalia went missing on August 2, 2015, near Formentera, Spain, while giving a diving lesson. After a few days, search efforts stopped, and she was believed to have passed away.

About Natalia's Life

Natalia Molchanova was born in 1962 in a place called Ufa, which was then part of the Soviet Union. She had two children, a son named Alexey and a daughter named Oksana.

Natalia's Diving Career

Natalia was the most successful freediver ever. When she went missing, she held 41 world records! She also won 23 gold medals during her long career.

In 2007, at the Freediving World Championships, she held her breath underwater for so long that her time was better than the winning male diver! In September 2009, she became the first woman to dive deeper than 100 meters (328 feet) using a constant weight. She reached 101 meters (331 feet) in Sharm el Sheikh, Egypt. Natalia was also the first woman to swim through the famous Blue Hole arch in Dahab, Egypt, on just one breath. Her deepest dive there was 127 meters (417 feet).

Natalia first trained as a swimmer. She took a break from sports for about 20 years after having her children. But when she was 40, she started training again! She switched from swimming to freediving. Her very first freediving competition was in 2003 in Moscow, where she immediately set a national record for Russia. Her son, Alexey, also became a very successful freediver. Later, Natalia taught freediving at a special sports university in Russia.

Her Disappearance

On August 2, 2015, Natalia was reported missing. She had been giving a private diving lesson near Formentera, Spain. She dove to about 40 meters (131 feet), which wasn't even her deepest dive. However, she was caught by a strong ocean current. Without her weights, she was likely pulled deeper and never came back up for air.

Rescue teams searched for her, but they couldn't find her. By August 4, her son Alexey and the search teams believed she had passed away.

See also

• List of people who disappeared mysteriously at sea

Natalia's World Records

Alexey and Natalia Molchanova at the 2007 Freediving World Championships

Natalia Molchanova set many world records. Here are some of her amazing achievements:

These are the best results Natalia achieved in different freediving types:

• STA - 9 minutes, 2 seconds (holding breath still)
• DYN - 234 meters (diving horizontally with fins)
• DNF - 182 meters (diving horizontally without fins)
• CWT - 101 meters (diving deep with fins)
• CNF - 69 meters (diving deep without fins)
• FIM - 91 meters (pulling down a rope to dive deep)
• VWT - 127 meters (using a weighted sled to go down, then swimming up)

Here's what the different freediving types mean:

• STA = Static apnea. This is about holding your breath for as long as you can while staying still.
• DYN = Dynamic apnea with fins. This is about swimming as far as you can underwater, horizontally, using fins.
• DNF = Dynamic apnea without fins. This is like DYN, but you swim as far as you can without using any fins.
• CWT = Constant weight with fins. This means diving as deep as possible, using fins to help you go down and come back up.
• CNF = Constant weight without fins. This is diving as deep as possible without using any fins. You just use your own strength.
• FIM = Free immersion. For this, you pull yourself down and up a rope to go as deep as you can.
• VWT = Variable weight apnea. You use a heavy sled to go down very fast, then you swim back up.

Natalia's Personal Bests

These are Natalia's absolute best performances in each freediving type: