When Dives Don’t Go to Plan: Current, Congestion and the Courage to Turn

Five Molchanovs athletes reflect on the challenges, decisions and lessons that shaped their dives at the 2026 AIDA Asian Freediving Cup.

By Zowie Palliaer

You can prepare for a dive down to the smallest detail. But currents change, equalization fails, jellyfish swarm, and sometimes the strongest decision is to abandon the plan. Photo credit © @fed.under.water.

At the 2026 AIDA Asian Freediving Cup – the largest freediving competition outside the World Championships – some of the sport’s best athletes gathered at Freedive SUPERhome in Panglao, Philippines. Across nine days of competition, records were broken, personal bests achieved and exceptional performances celebrated.

But not every dive ended with a white card.

Alexey Molchanov turned early on all three Free Immersion attempts after battling the current and fatigue. Mitch Ayres turned at 99m on one attempt and 88m on another. Huang Hua Yang experienced an early turn and a disqualification before finally completing his target dive, and even that came with some unexpected moments. 

Mariko Kaji received a red card on a personal best No Fins dive after pulling outside the candy-cane zone. Brad Stephens competed whilst battling illness and narrowly missed a North American Continental Record after dipping his airways during his surface.

These are some of the strongest freediving athletes in the world. They planned carefully, trained hard, and arrived ready to perform. Still, none of them could guarantee a perfect dive.

In an episode of Beneath the Dive, the five athletes sat down for a candid conversation about the competition dives that didn’t go the way they wanted, and what those dives taught them.

“Happens to the best of us.” Alexey Molchanov is a testament to knowing when to pivot after three early turns paved the way for a successful world-record dive.

When do you adapt, and when do you abort?

Freediving requires commitment. Once the countdown finishes and an athlete leaves the surface, any hesitation can be costly. But commitment isn’t the same as stubbornness.

A diver must continuously assess whether changing conditions require a small adjustment or an entirely new decision.

For Alexey, the distinction comes down to the amount of energy required.

“The current is something you adapt to,” he explained.

“It’s just analyzing how much energy you spend on the adjustment. If it’s almost no energy, like micro-movements, that’s fine. If there’s too much energy, then it’s better to abort.”

A minor change in body position may be manageable. Fighting the line for the entire dive is different. Every correction consumes oxygen and can make the ascent more demanding than expected.

Mariko approaches uncertain conditions by preparing more than one version of her competition day. If the platform is crowded or the weather leaves her feeling cold, she adjusts her warm-up rather than trying to force the original schedule.

“I always have a Plan B for the day,” she said.

Sometimes, however, adapting means accepting that the dive is over.

Hua Yang described one of freediving’s most decisive ways to end an attempt: calling for a “taxi.” This means signalling to a safety diver to assist with the ascent. The athlete receives a red card, but avoids spending the energy required to return to the surface.

“If this time I didn’t make it, I would like to save my energy for the next time,” Hua Yang said. “That’s the main reason I call taxi.”

Knowing when to call it paid off for Hua Yang Huang, who secured a national record for Taiwan on his last dive, following a valiant surface protocol. Photo credit © @fed.under.water.

It’s an intentional decision to sacrifice one result in order to protect the athlete and preserve the possibility of another attempt.

Mitch admitted that making that decision does not always come naturally.

“I think I’m too mentally arrogant to call for taxis,” he said candidly, adding that part of him would rather continue and see what happened than ask for assistance.

It was not advice to follow. It was an honest acknowledgement of the competitive ego that can make aborting feel harder than continuing. 

Hua Yang’s outlook was shaped by a previous blackout in strong current. Equalization isn’t the only factor he considers when deciding whether to turn – the environment itself can be enough.

“Current is one of the big factors for me to decide if I do an early turn,” he said.

There’s no universal reason for a diver to continue or abort. Conditions, experience, energy use and the way the dive feels must all be considered. The skill lies in noticing when persistence has stopped serving the dive.

Persistent congestion saw Brad Stephens turn early three times, before an airway dip at the surface on his final dive disqualified him from a continental record. Photo credit © @fed.under.water.

Would you rather: thermocline, jellyfish, current or congestion?

Freedivers learn to expect discomfort, but not all obstacles are equally negotiable.

For Brad, congestion is the clear winner – or loser.

“The worst one is for sure congestion,” he said. “You can manage and dive with everything else, but if your ear locks up, you just can’t really force it.”

A thermocline may be unpleasant. Current may sometimes be manageable with efficient adjustments. Even jellyfish might be tolerated to a point. But when congestion prevents equalization, determination just isn’t enough to open your Eustachian tubes. Continuing to force the descent risks injury.

Mariko offered a compelling argument for jellyfish. After being stung during the competition, her face became so affected that she struggled to open her eyes. She went to a clinic for an injection immediately afterwards.

Current, meanwhile, can transform the entire geometry of a dive.

Mitch recalled setting the line for a 100m monofin personal best attempt during training. He could see a significant angle in the line but convinced himself that continuing would build mental fortitude.

On the descent, he reached the end of the line unexpectedly and struggled to see the rope as the current pulled him away. His watch eventually read 87m. The line had been pushed to an angle so severe that his dive was 13 meters shallower than intended.

The experience changed his understanding of what “pushing through” can mean in strong current.

The athletes didn’t arrive at one definitive ranking of thermocline, jellyfish, current and congestion. That was the point. The worst condition is often the one that removes your ability to execute the dive safely, and that depends on the athlete, the intensity and the situation.

Despite multiple yellow cards, Mitch Ayres managed to claim first place overall for men, proving there’s still glory in turning early. Photo credit © @fed.under.water.

What do you tell yourself when a dive goes wrong?

A red card or early turn can feel enormous in the minutes after a competition dive. The athlete has trained for months, traveled, announced a depth and performed in front of judges, safety divers, other competitors and spectators.

But the result is still only one moment.

“This is a luxury, to be able to do what we’re doing,” Brad said. “It’s not a life-or-death situation. It should just be enjoyed.”

Alexey agreed.

“Even if it didn’t go well, it’s still an amazing thing we do,” he said. “We’re privileged doing that.”

That perspective doesn’t erase disappointment. It puts it back into proportion.

A white card, personal best or record can be deeply meaningful, but a missed result doesn’t remove the value of the training, the experience or the dive itself. Nor does it define the athlete.

Hua Yang described competitive freediving as a collaboration with the conditions rather than a battle against them.

“It’s an outdoor sport,” he said. “You need to respect and deal with the environment. If you are thinking in the way of fighting or conquering, you’ll never make it.”

When trusting the process pays off. A colorful scorecard still resulted in a fourth-place finish for Mariko Kaji. Photo credit © @fed.under.water.

What can an imperfect competition teach you?

A competition plan is valuable, but its real purpose isn’t to predict every detail. It gives the athlete a stable starting point from which to respond.

“Having a perfect plan isn’t always necessary,” Brad said, “because this plan doesn’t always happen.”

At the Asian Freediving Cup, the athletes dealt with current, canceled dives, fatigue, illness and unexpected red cards. Some dives improved once expectations were loosened. Others became lessons in turning earlier, conserving energy and rolling with the punches.

Mariko entered one dive worried about the current. Her target was 86m – a personal best – but she reminded herself to trust the process. She surfaced feeling surprisingly comfortable.

Brad left the competition without the record he had hoped for, yet found value in “enjoying the process of training and competing” and continuing to improve.

Alexey’s competition provided perhaps the clearest example of adaptation. His Free Immersion attempts did not unfold as planned, but he changed disciplines and completed a 129m Constant Weight Bifins dive for a new world record.

“You have the plan,” he said, “but you adapt as well.”

Hear the athletes tell these stories in their own words. Watch the full Beneath the Dive discussion on YouTube.

Why keep competing?

If competition guarantees anything, it’s to expect the unexpected.

There will always be another variable to manage, another weakness to address and another dive that feels different from the one imagined on land. That uncertainty can be frustrating, but it is also what keeps athletes returning.

“There’s always something to work on,” Mitch said.

“If it was easy, there wouldn’t be much reason to train every year.”

Hua Yang finds motivation in incremental progress. Each improvement gives him something new and creates momentum toward the next target.

“Every time, a little improvement,” he said. “It makes me feel I have more power to do the next goal, next goal and next goal.”

Perfect dives are memorable. Imperfect dives can be transformative.

No amount of preparation can guarantee that everything will go to plan – not even for the biggest athletes in the sport. Preparation can give you the experience to respond: make a micro-adjustment, change the warm-up, turn early, call for a taxi, accept the card and return with something learned.

That may be the deeper reason athletes keep competing. There’s always another opportunity to understand the dive – and themselves – a little better.

Inspired to enter your first freediving competition? The Molchanovs Wave 4 course is designed to help you develop the knowledge and advanced freediving skills needed to become a competitive freediver.