Alexey Molchanov

Alexey Molchanov, Blue Hole, Dahab, Egypt, 2013

Alexey Molchanov (Russian: Алексей Олегович Молчанов, born March 6, 1987 in Volgograd) is a Russian champion freediver, five time world vice-champion, and world record holder in freediving. His mother, Natalia Molchanova was also a freediver.^[1]

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 discipline and began to compete in the open ocean.

In 2012 he set a world record in Sharm el Sheikh, Egypt, when he freedived to 125m using a monofin. Later that year he 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 his record again. This time he was in Kalamata, Greece when he dove to 128m and back under difficult conditions. He extended that record to 129m in Baja in 2016.

Overall he has set five world records and has earned 15 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 that turned her into the greatest competitive freediver of all time, and transformed Russia into the freediving power. Alexey has followed her foot steps and in addition to running the Russian Freediving Federation, his Molchanovs brand produces some of the finest freediving gear available.

An instructor, entrepreneur and elite 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.

Records^[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

References

External links

• Russian: personal page Russian Freediving Association (checked 11/19/2010)