Freediving legend Natalia Molchanova goes missing near Ibiza

The well-known freediving website deeperblue.com has reported the disappearance of Russian freediving star Natalia Molchanova. The multi-champion and multi-medalist of all serious freediving competitions went missing near the island of Formentera near Ibiza. She was training with 3 other divers at the time, who alerted the emergency services on Sunday 2 August after the Tsarina of Freediving failed to surface after her dive.

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The search and rescue operation launched on Sunday 2 August involved police forces, sea rescue, as well as aviation, with the Helimar 213 helicopter and a number of private boats. A company specialising in search and rescue also has its share in the search. They use robots in their work, which can scour vast spaces at great depths.

AIDA International and Molchanova’s family provided a joint statement:

Natalia Molchanova took part in recreational freediving dives off the coast of Spain on August 2. At one point she got separated from the rest of the group. She was diving without fins to a depth of 30-40 metres and most likely fell into a very strong underwater current. The search continued throughout the day until dusk and also continued the next day. The disappearance took place approximately 2 Mm north-west of La Savina harbour in Poniente de es Freus.

Natalia is the most successful freediver in the history of free diving. In her career she has set world records as many as 41 times and stood on the highest step of the World Championships podium 23 times. She has always trained hard. Thanks to that she was able to hold her breath for 9 minutes(!) and go down to the depth of 101 metres using only fins! She could also swim 234 metres while holding her breath.

She has numerous scientific articles on freediving and 2 publications in the form of training manuals. She is the founder and serves as the president of the Russian Freediving Federation. She has created many training programs and trained freediving enthusiasts all over the globe.

She is also a proud mother of two children – Oksana and Alexei (also the Freediving World Champion – ed.). Natalia loves children and has always longed for the day when she will become a grandmother.

She was an inspiration to a multitude of freedivers and even despite being the most dangerous competitor, she always remained calm and relaxed during every competition. She used to say:

“Birth and death are important, but freediving competitions are just fun for adults”

The reasons for Natalia’s disappearance are unknown, but she was doing what she loved most. Freediving was her passion, so deeply rooted in her heart that she decided to dedicate her whole life to it.

Source: deeperblue.com