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| Natalia Molchanova, Champion Free Diver, Is Missing Near Spain | Natalia Molchanova, Champion Free Diver, Is Missing Near Spain |
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| Natalia Molchanova, 53, widely regarded as the greatest free diver in history, is presumed dead after failing to emerge from a dive in the Balearic Sea near Spain on Sunday, according to her son, Alexey. | |
| Molchanova, a Russian who holds dozens of world records, did not surface after a recreational dive to about 35 meters (about 115 feet) 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 71 meters (about 233 feet), 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. | Molchanova, a Russian who holds dozens of world records, did not surface after a recreational dive to about 35 meters (about 115 feet) 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 71 meters (about 233 feet), 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 two miles 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. | On Sunday, she was diving recreationally without such a line two miles 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.” | “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 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 from a Helimar 213 chopper, and the search lasted until dark. It resumed Monday morning. | When Molchanova failed to surface after her dive 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 from a Helimar 213 chopper, and the search lasted until dark. It resumed Monday morning. |
| Molchanova remained missing Tuesday, when the search expanded to include the use of underwater robots capable of searching a radius of nearly 500 miles at depth. On Tuesday afternoon, Alexey said in an electronic message that the search was not expected to find her alive. | |
| The water temperature in the area was about 79 degrees, though a transition layer of water known as a thermocline can be 10to 15 degrees cooler about 65 feet 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, known as AIDA. “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.” | “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, known as AIDA. “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. | 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 face down in a pool and floats holding 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 she does the same thing using a breaststroke (her record is 182 meters, or almost 600 feet). | Free diving includes three pool disciplines: static apnea, in which a diver goes face down in a pool and floats holding 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 she does the same thing using a breaststroke (her record is 182 meters, or almost 600 feet). |
| For Molchanova and her son, Alexey, 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, 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 mythic 100-meter barrier, at the world championships in Kalamata, Greece, in 2013. The same year, Alexey set a men’s record in the same discipline with a dive to 128 meters, or almost 420 feet. | There are three depth disciplines in competitive free diving. In constant weight, 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 mythic 100-meter barrier, at the world championships in Kalamata, Greece, in 2013. The same year, Alexey set a men’s record in the same discipline with a dive to 128 meters, or almost 420 feet. |
| 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 91 meters. | 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 91 meters. |
| “Free diving is not only sport, it’s a way to understand who we are,” Molchanova said in an interview last year. “When we go down if we don’t think, we understand we are whole. We are one with world. When we think we are separate. On surface it is natural to think and we have many information inside. We need to reset sometimes. Free diving helps do that.” | “Free diving is not only sport, it’s a way to understand who we are,” Molchanova said in an interview last year. “When we go down if we don’t think, we understand we are whole. We are one with world. When we think we are separate. On surface it is natural to think and we have many information inside. We need to reset sometimes. Free diving helps do that.” |