Molchanovs Athletes Deliver at the AIDA Asian Freediving Cup 2026

Two world records, three continental records, and nine unforgettable days for freediving athletes in Panglao.

By Kristina Zvaritch

Editor Zowie Palliaer

Taiwan's Huang Hua Yang surfacing from 112m (367ft) national-record dive in CWTB. Photo credit © @fed.under.water.

On July 14th, 93 athletes from 23 countries gathered together for the 10th edition of the AIDA Asian Freediving Cup, where they spent nine days deep diving off of Freedive SuperHOME’s Y-260 platform in Panglao, Bohol, Philippines. But this year, something extra special was added to the mix — full underwater footage and livestream production from Diveye!

YouTube livestream viewers were able to witness 2 world records: Alexey Molchanov diving to 129m (423ft) CWTB and USA’s Enchante Gallardo pulling herself down and up 106m (348ft) of rope, equaling the current FIM World Record set by Nataliia Zharkova in May of this year.

Three Continental Records also fell at AFC2026: China’s Ning Jingyu dove to an unbelievable 114m (374ft) in CWT, despite nervousness due to diving for the first time with Diveye as her companion. Her teammate, Xiao Kai, also made the deepest no-fins dive in Asia to 85m (279ft), replacing his own standing record by 2m (7ft). And finally, Enchante Gallardo set a FIM Continental Record to 104m (341ft) in FIM, which paved the way to her new 106m world record.

Alexey Molchanov pulling his way to the deep in his PRO Wetsuit Inside-Lined. Photo credit © @andac.kazar.

Molchanovs Athletes Shine

Initially, Alexey Molchanov seemed to be on his way to break the current FIM World Record, which stands at 137m (449ft) by Croatia’s Petar Klovar. But after attempted dives to 131m (430ft) and 134m (440ft) in FIM, which resulted in early turns due to current, he pulled out a wild card on the final men’s competition day — 129m CWTB in his PRO Hyper Bifins X Fiberglass. His dive, pending doping results, will become a new World Record, replacing Petar Klovar’s 128m (420ft) dive set in Mabini, Philippines in April.

In fact, all the Molchanovs athletes made quite the splash at AFC2026

New National Records

Mitch Ayres from Australia, favoring his PRO wetsuits (two-piece inside-lined and one-piece inside-lined), made repeated attempts to 105m (344ft) in CWT (using bifins) and FIM, but turned early at 99m (325ft) and 88m (289ft), respectively. Then, on day 7, he surfaced from a super clean 82m (269ft) in CNF, celebrating a white card and new Australian National Record. Mitch also placed first overall in the men’s standings.

Australia's Mitch Ayres relaxing on the line before attempting 105m (344ft) in FIM. Photo credit © @fed.under.water.

Taiwan’s Huang Hua Yang completed a 103m (338ft) FIM dive, which earned him a white card, and spent the other competition days targeting 112m (367ft) in CWTB. After an early turn and a DQ for touching the rope, Hua Yang finally nailed the dive on the final competition day with his PRO Hyper Bifins X Carbon, landing him a new CWTB National Record for Taiwan and an AFC2026 discipline award.

100m-Barrier Broken

Mariko Kaji from Japan made a ton of new personal bests, with one heartbreaking red card. Her first competition dive was to 100m (328ft) in CWT, breaking the 100m-barrier for the first time in her freediving career. Her seemingly easy FIM dives to 86m (282ft) and 90m (295ft) were met with cheers from the platform, and a PB dive to 74m (243ft) in CNF initially earned her a white card, but turned to red when the judges saw her pull at the bottom was outside of the candy-cane zone. Even without that CNF dive, she still placed fourth in the AFC2026 overall women’s ranking.

Mariko Kaji from Japan smiling before her dive at the AIDA Asian Freediving Cup. Photo credit © @fed.under.water.

All White Cards

And out of only five male athletes who collected white cards for every single dive, two were Molchanovs athletes: Korea’s Kim Woongjin (known as Woongja) and Ziyu Rocky Liu from China. And even better — every single dive they made at AFC2026 was an official personal best!

Woongja showed off plenty of personality (and sometimes backflips) at the surface after completing 88m (288ft) in FIM, a clean CNF dive to 59m (194ft), and two CWT dives to 95m (312ft) and 98m (322ft) — both in his glacier-blue PRO Monofin 4X Fiberglass. Catch him in his upcoming pool and depth competitions in Korea later this year!

And Rocky, who always wins over the crowd with his sunny disposition and sweet words of encouragement from his daughter in the YouTube livestream comments. He made extra-strong dives to 88m (289ft) in CWTB, 89m (292ft) in FIM, 58m (190ft) in CNF, and a new round 90m (295ft) in CWT using his PRO Monofin 4x Carbon.

Brad Stephens from the USA on his way up from 108m (354ft), a valiant attempt at securing the North American FIM Continental Record. Photo credit © @fed.under.water.

The Almost Continental Record

USA’s Brad Stephens, who is only competing for the second time, attempted to break the current men’s FIM Continental Record for North America, which stands at 107m (351ft) and was set by Tory George in 2023. After multiple attempts to 106m (348ft), which ended in early turns, he made two final attempts to 108m (354ft), one of which he completed, but ended in an airways dip. Even though Brad faced some unfortunate underwater current and was sick during the competition, it’s very clear he has the Continental Record in him. 

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