Molchanovs Athletes Compete at the AIDA Freediving World Cup

Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt, 24 May 2021 - Molchanovs athletes Nataliia Zharkova of Ukraine, Thibault Guignes of France, Olga Markina of Russia, and Vitomir Maričić of Croatia competed in the 2021 AIDA Freediving World Cup in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt.

Nataliia Zharkova, Molchanovs Freediving Athlete

Nataliia ended the competition with a new Ukrainian national record dive of 3’07” to 84m (276ft) in CWTB. She also received white cards for a 2’55” 95m (311ft) CWT dive, a 2’50” 80m (262ft) FIM dive, and a 2’36” 62m (203ft) CNF dive. She arrived a week before the competition to train and felt natural regaining her skills, and had nice and easy dives without pushing.

Thibault, a collaborator for Molchanovs Wave and Base Training and an Instructor Trainer, performed a 3’02” FIM dive to 97m (318ft), a 2’25” CWTB dive to 80m (262ft), a 2’30” CWT dive to 85m (279ft), and attempted a 52m (171ft) CNF dive but turned early. His training before the competition involved much deeper dives than his competition performances, and he felt his dives were very enjoyable, easy, and strong on a technical level. He commends the competition’s organization and the safety team, and felt the entire event was very successful.

Olga Markina, Molchanovs Freediving Athlete

Despite being recently ill and dealing with some equalization issues, Olga Markina received two bronze medals for her performance to 70m (230ft) in CWT and a performance to 71m (233ft) in CWTB. She also attempted a dive to 65m (213ft) in FIM, although it led to a surface blackout. “I had some problems with equipment in the competition, which meant we had to postpone the starting time, and I skipped lunch,” said Olga. “I also need to make sure to rest during my rest day, because I didn’t properly rest. It was definitely a lot of lessons to take from this competition.” Olga also received a yellow card for an early turn on the way to a 60m (197ft) FIM dive on the last day of competition.

Vitomir Maricic, Molchanovs Freediving Athlete

Vitomir set two Croatian national records with a 3’02” dive to 97m (318ft) in CWTB and a 2’26” 77m (253ft) CNF performance. He also had a fairly easy dive to 90m (295ft) in FIM. His training introduced many new techniques and technologies which proved very helpful, and although he had a wrong alarm on one of the dives and missed the plate and stopper, his overall dives were comfortable and he had a good experience. He also coached fellow athlete Petar Klovar during the competition, and is looking forward to some rest and more depth training in the Adriatic Sea.