Alexey Molchanov

Alexey Molchanov (Russian: Алексей Олегович Молчанов, born 6 March 1987 in Volgograd) is a Russian champion freediver, eight time world champion (AIDA and CMAS), and world record holder in freediving, chairman of Association "Freediving Federation", president of AIDA Russia. Alexey is a son of Natalia Molchanova – multiple champion and world record holder in freediving.

Alexey Molchanov
Alexey Molchanov, Blue Hole, Dahab, Egypt, 2013
Personal information
Born (1987-03-06) 6 March 1987
Volgograd, USSR
Sport
SportFreediving

Career

Alexey Molchanov is the deepest man in the history of the competitive freediving. He achieved his first world record in 2008 in a pool discipline called Dynamic Apnea, in which he swam 250m underwater with a monofin on one breath. Since then he focused on the depth disciplines and began to compete in the open water.

In 2012, he set a world record in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, when he dived to 125m using a monofin. Later that year Alexey broke his own world record with a dive to 126m in Dean's Blue Hole in The Bahamas, and at the 2013 AIDA World Championships, Alexey broke this record again. It happened in Kalamata, Greece when he dived on one breath to 128m and returned to surface under difficult conditions. He extended that record to 129m in Baja in 2016. In 2018 in the Bahamas Alexey dived 130m and set a new world record.

Overall, he has set 12 world records (8 records were set according to AIDA rules and 4 records are according to CMAS) and has earned 18 combined gold, silver, and bronze individual and team medals at world championship events.

A former nationally ranked swimmer, Alexey took up freediving as a teenager when his mother, the late Natalia Molchanova, fell in love with the sport. She would go on to develop a branded training program, which included meditative techniques and turned her into the greatest competitive freediver of all time, and transformed Russia into the freediving power. Alexey has followed her footsteps and in addition to running the Russian Freediving Federation, he is developing Molchanovs brand, which produces some of the finest freediving gear available.

An instructor, entrepreneur and top-ranked athlete, Alexey Molchanov splits his time between his homes in Moscow and Dahab, runs regular training camps in Bali, Mexico and the United States, and competes all over the world. He often brings his camera and drone along with him and you may find his underwater photos in online galleries and exhibitions.

Records

Apnea Association Date Place Event Record Stands as
DYN 19.04.2004 Moscow freediving Russian Championship 158 m Russian record
FIM 23.11.2004 Egypt Open Swedish freediving competitions 66 m Russian record
VWT 30.11.2004 Egypt Registration of records in Blue Hole 76 m Russian record
DNF 23.04.2005 Moscow freediving Russian Championship 107 m Russian record
DYN 24.04.2005 Moscow freediving Russian Championship 171 m Russian record
DYN 25.08.2005 Lausanne, Switzerland first individual freediving World Championship 199 m Russian record, bronze medal
STA 26.08.2005 Lausanne, Switzerland first individual freediving World Championship 6 min. 31 sec. Russian record, bronze medal
DNF 27.08.2005 Lausanne, Switzerland first individual freediving World Championship 124 m Russian record
DNF 27.08.2005 Lausanne, Switzerland first individual freediving World Championship 131 m Russian record, silver medal
CWT 1.09.2005 France, Nice freediving World Championship 82 m Russian record
CNF 7.11.2005 Egypt, Dahab Triple Depth 52 m Russian record
DYN 23.04.2006 Moscow Russian Championship 200 m Russian record
CNF 30.05.2006 Egypt, Dahab Triple Depth 60 m Russian record
CWT 07.12.2006 Egypt, Hurgada Team World Championship 83 m Russian record
DYN 09.12.2006 Egypt, Hurgada Team World Championship 207 m Russian record
STA 9.06.2007 Moscow Russian championship 6 min. 59 sec. Russian record
DYN 5.07.2007 Slovenia, Maribor freediving World Championship 213 m Russian record, silver medal
DNF 7.07.2007 Slovenia, Maribor freediving World Championship 157 m Russian record, silver medal
CNF 3.11.2007 Egypt, Sharm-el-Sheikh 4th individual freediving World Championship 65 m Russian record, bronze medal
DYN 27.04.2008 Moscow open Moscow Cup 222 m Russian record
CWT 25.07.2008 Greece, Crete, Sugia International freediving competition: Mediterranean Cup 91 m Russian record
CWT 27.07.2008 Greece, Crete, Sugia International freediving competition: Mediterranean Cup 101 m Russian record
FIM 1.08.2008 Egypt, Dahab International freediving competition 90 m Russian record
STA 4.10.2008 Italy, Lignano-Sabbiadoro European Cup 7min. 31sec. Russian record
DYN 5.10.2008 Italy, Lignano-Sabbiadoro European Cup 250 m World Record, Historic Record
STA 20.08.2009 Danmark, Aarhus 5th Individual freediving World Championship 8 min. 02 sec. Russian record
STA 21.08.2009 Danmark, Aarhus 5th Individual freediving World Championship 8 min. 31 sec. Russian record, silver medal
CNF 25.09.2009 Egypt, Sharm-el-Sheikh International competition Ruler of the depth 80 m Russian record
CNF 27.09.2009 Egypt, Sharm-el-Sheikh International competition Ruler of the depth 83 m Russian record
CWT 1.12.2009 Bahamas, Long Island 6th individual freediving World Championship 102 m Russian record
CWT 3.12.2009 Bahamas, Long Island 6th individual freediving World Championship 111 m Russian record, silver medal
FIM 24.09.2011 Greece, Kalamata 7th individual freediving World Championship 100 m Russian record
CWT 25.11.2012 Bahamas, Long Island 126 m World record[1]
FIM 29.11.2012 Bahamas, Long Island 107 m Russian record
CNF 25.04.2013 Egypt, Dahab Russian National Open Competition, 2013 85 m Russian record
CNF 27.04.2013 Egypt, Dahab Russian National Open Competition, 2013 90 m Russian record, continental record
DNF 27.06.2013 Belgrade Individual AIDA pool World Championships, 2013 195 m Russian record
STA 29.06.2013 Belgrade Individual AIDA pool World Championships, 2013 8:33 Russian record
CWT 19.09.2013 Kalamata Kalamata Open, 2013 128 m World record, gold medal
FIM 21.09.2013 Kalamata Kalamata Open, 2013 110 m Russian record
CNF 10.11.2013 Long Island, BHS Vertical Blue, 2013 91 m Russian record
FIM 16.11.2013 Long Island, BHS Vertical Blue, 2013 112 m Russian record
FIM 02.12.2014 Long Island, BHS Suunto Vertical Blue, Deadmans Caye, 2014 114 m Russian record
DYN 26.06.2015 Belgrade Individual AIDA Pool World Championships 2015 258 m Russian record
CNF 14.09.2015 Limassol AIDA Individual World Championship 2015 85 m Gold medal
CWT 16.09.2015 Limassol AIDA Individual World Championship 2015 122 m Gold medal
CWT 29.10.2016 La Paz Big Blue World Cup 2016 (AIDA) 129 m World record, gold medal
CWT 02.05.2017 Bahamas Suunto Vertical Blue 2017 (AIDA) 129 m World record, gold medal
FIM 05.2017 Bamamas Suunto Vertical Blue 2017 (AIDA) 118 m Russian record
FIM 05.2017 Bahamas Suunto Vertical Blue 2017 (AIDA) 121 m Russian record
CWT 03.10.2017 Kaş Apnea European Championship Outdoor – CMAS 122 m World record, gold medal
CWT-BF 10.2017 Kaş Apnea European Championship Outdoor – CMAS 108 m World record, gold medal
Jump Blue 10.2017 Kaş Apnea European Championship Outdoor – CMAS 195,5 m Russian record, gold medal
DYN-BF 04.2018 Saint-Petersbourg Russian Pool Championship 2015 — CMAS 206,70 m Russian record, gold medal
STA 04.2018 Saint-Petersbourg Russian Pool Championship 2015 — CMAS 8 m 15 sec Russian record, gold medal
DYN-BF 15.06.2018 Lignano Sabbiadoro 10th Free Diving Indoor World Championship – CMAS 224,7 m Russian record
CWT 18.07.2018 Bahamas Vertical Blue 2018 — AIDA 130 m World record, gold medal
FIM 24.07.2018 Bahamas Vertical Blue 2018 — AIDA 125 m World record, gold medal
CWT 04.10.2018 Kaş 3rd FreeDiving World Championship Outdoor 2018 — CMAS 123 m World record, gold medal
FIM 06.10.2018 Kaş 3rd FreeDiving World Championship Outdoor 2018 — CMAS 116 m World record, gold medal

[2]

Summary:

  • STA – 8 min. 33 sec.
  • DYN – 258 m
  • DNF – 195 m
  • CWT – 129,7 m
  • CNF – 91 m
  • FIM – 114 m

Clarification:

  • STA = Static Apnea. Holding the breath as long as possible.
  • DYN = Dynamic Apnea with fins. Diving as far as possible with the use of fins or a monofin.
  • DNF = Dynamic Apnea without fins. Diving as far as possible without fins.
  • CWT = Constant weight with fins. Diving as deep as possible with the use of fins or a monofin.
  • CNF = Constant weight without fins. Diving as deep as possible without fins.
  • FIM = Free Immersion. Diving as deep as possible by pulling down and up the rope.

Personal bests

DisciplineResultAccreditation
Time STA 8:33minAIDA
Distance DNF 195mAIDA
DYN 258mAIDA
Depth CNF 96mAIDA
CWT 130mAIDA
CWT BF 108mCMAS
FIM 125mAIDA
VWT 76mAIDA
NLT

References

  1. AIDA: World records Archived 2015-11-17 at the Wayback Machine (checked 17/02/2013)
  2. Russian: Alexey Molchanov records Russian Freediving Association (checked 11/19/2010)
  • Russian: personal page Russian Freediving Association (checked 11/19/2010)
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.