30th AIDA World Championship

Jeju 2023

Asya Kleshchevnikova, Sports Columnist
Head of Customer Service & International Sales
asya@molchanovs.com
molchanovs.com

Kristina Zvaritch
Editor

1. Preview of the World Championship
2. Competition Day 1 (June 12)
2.1 Starting protocols for DYNB
2.2 Official results for DYNB
3. Competition Day 2 (June 13)
3.1 Starting protocols for DNF
3.2 New AIDA World Record in DNF (female)
3.3 Official results for DNF
4. Competition Day 3 (June 15)
4.1 Starting protocols for STA
4.2 Official results for STA
5. Competition Day 4 (June 16)
5.1 Starting protocols for DYN
5.2 Official results for DYN

Preview of the World Championship

Background

On June 10th, 2023, the 30th AIDA World Championship begins with an opening ceremony on the island of Jeju in South Korea. It is the second and final freediving world championship in the pool this year (the previous World Championship was according to CMAS rules - if you missed it, checkhere). For four days (June 12 - 16), athletes will try their luck and stamina to win titles, set new world records, and win monetary prizes.

Location

Similar to the CMAS World Freediving Indoor Championship 2023, which took place in Kuwait, AIDA also arranged its Championship in a one-of-a-kind location with a special connection with underwater activities - Jeju Island, south of the Korean peninsula. The island landscape was formed by the eruption of an underwater volcano approximately 2 million years ago.

It is the first time a freediving World Championship in the pool has been held in this part of the world. Nevertheless, Jeju's breath-hold diving tradition has been known since 434 A.D.! Originally, these underwater dives were performed by men, but since the 17th century, diving has become mainly a female business. Women called 'Haenyeo' (literally translating to 'diving women') harvested abalone, sea urchins, seaweed, and other sea creatures for a living. They have been diving about 10m (33ft) deep and holding their breaths for about 1 minute for up to 7 hours daily, 90 days a year. On the surface, women perform a unique verbal sound to mark the end of each diving session. This is what the surface protocol looked like in the 17th century.

And even today, the Haenyeo community and traditions are still alive and remain almost unchanged! The culture of Jeju Haenyeo is recognised as an intangible UNESCO heritage.

Pool conditions and competition schedule

Getting back to the present - the 30th AIDA World Championship is hosted in the Jeju Stadium swimming pool. The pool conditions are as follows:

• Number of lanes: 8
• Lane length: 50m (164ft)
• Lane depth: 2m (7ft)
• Lane width: 2.5m (8ft)
• Water temperature: 26°C (78.8°F)

Athletes will compete in four disciplines according to AIDA rules (to learn more about AIDA and their competition rules and disciplines, check out International Freediving Federations You Need to Know: CMAS vs. AIDA

The official schedule of the Championship is as follows:

• June 12: DYNB
• June 13: DNF
• June 14: Official training
• June 15: STA
• June 16: DYN

An awards ceremony and evening closing ceremony will be held at the end of the Championship on June 16th, when monetary prizes and the traditional Natalia Molchanova Memorial Award will be bestowed.

Competing athletes

According to AIDA, almost 200 athletes from 30 coutries will participate in the Championship. However, it seems that from the list of the current world record holders, only Julia Kozerska (POL) will take part in the Championship, which means that we will see new names on the podium and new winners of the Natalia Molchanova Memorial Award.

In a surprise turn of events, the most exciting performances await us in the STA discipline. The current absolute world records in STA belong to:

Stéphane Mifsud (FRA) - 11’35”
Natalia Molchanova (INTERNATIONAL) - 9’02“

The records remain unbeaten for 14 years among the men and for 10 years among the women.

Stephane doesn't compete any more, and Natalia is no longer with us, but the strongest competitive athletes in STA are going to the Championship. In particular, Florian Dagoury (FRA), whose official personal best is 10'30'', is on the list of participants in the World Championship for the first time. His teammate and nearest competitor, Laurent de Beaucaron (FRA), who recently held his breath for 9’27” in the World Championship in Kuwait, is also among the participants. Florian and Laurent will be challenged by Rami Bladlav and Valdemar Karlsson, both from Sweden, who have official results of 10’03” and 9’28”, respectively. Are you Team France or Team Sweden?

What’s next?

Each day of the Championship, we’ll tell you about the most anticipated performances and will try to predict the winners so you don't miss out on historic dives. We'll also post official links to the online broadcasts so you can find them easily. If you don't have time to watch the broadcast - don't worry! We'll watch for you and write detailed reports on all the notable performances.

To make the STA day more fun, we are preparing a special offer for our customers. Follow our news from the Championship so you don’t miss out!

So stay tuned and make sure you catch our updates about the Championship. If you want more information on freediving competitions and how to watch them to get ready for this year’s Championship, make sure you check our competition guides:

• International Freediving Federations You Need to Know: CMAS vs. AIDA
• How to Make Sense of a Freediving Competition Broadcast
• Current CMAS and AIDA Freediving World Records

Competition Day 1 (June 12)

Starting protocols for DYNB

Ladies and gentlemen, the protocols for the first competition day of the 30th AIDA World Championship are here. Let's dive in!

The set up

On the first competition day, the athletes will compete in DYNB and try to swim with bifins as far as possible on a single breath. The main challenge of this discipline is that AIDA rules stipulate that dolphin kicks are not allowed at all in DYNB - if an athlete performs even one, they will be disqualified.

Nonetheless, 146 athletes announced their participation in this discipline, and there will be six freedivers in each heat - men and women will compete simultaneously. The start list is arranged according to athlete announcements, not according to their official personal bests (PBs) like in the previous Championship in Kuwait. This means that with the help of each athlete's bid, they can slightly influence the start time of their dive. For example, Mai Morimura (JPN), with an official AIDA PB of 207m (679ft), announced a 30m (98ft) distance and will compete at 10:00 a.m. (GMT+9).

Top three women

The current absolute world record holder in DYNB among the women, Magdalena Solich-Talanda (POL), and the teams of Croatia, Italy, and Ukraine won’t be participating in this Championship. This makes Mai Morimura (JPN) the main contender for the World Championship title in DYNB. In the AIDA Championship last year, May swam with bifins as far as 207m (679ft), which placed her fourth in the competition rating after Magdalena, Kateryna Sadurska (UKR), and Lidija Lijić (HRV).

Several women with official PBs of 200m+ (656ft+) are May's main competitors: Yasuko Ozeki (JPN) with a PB of 205m (673ft), Jordan Duncan (AUS) with 200m, and Julia Kozerska (POL) with 200m.

Julia is a multiple world record holder as well as the current absolute world record holder in DNF. And Yasuko’s resume includes participation in several top world competitions, including the World Championships and Vertical Blue. This makes them both highly-experienced athletes. On the other hand, Jordan is participating in the Championship for the first time. Good luck on your debut, Jordan!

Top three men

The current absolute world record holder in DYNB among the men - Goran Čolak (HRV) - who recently dived 292.15m (958ft) with bifins in the Championship in Kuwait, isn’t participating in the event. Neither is his nearest rival and former absolute world record holder in DYNB Mateusz Malina (POL).

Therefore, according to the official PBs, Ming (William Joy) Jin (CHN), who once dived as far as 276m (905ft) with bifins, is the main favorite in the discipline among the men. William is followed by Dmitri Melnikov (EST), whose official PB is 261m (856ft), Yi(Zy) Zhang (CHN), who previously reached 254m (833ft), and Mikhail Briantcev (INT), with a PB of 253m (830ft).

However, each of these four athletes haven’t performed these PBs in any World Championships just yet. At the last world championship in Kuwait, Yueh Shiang Hsu (TPE) swam further with bifins than all current male participants, reaching the mark of 239m (784ft), which placed him in seventh place after the supermen from the Croatian, French, and Italian national teams. So watch out for Yueh Shiang!

When to turn on the broadcast

The broadcast should be available at 9 a.m. (GMT+9). In Europe, it will be about 2:00 - 3:00 a.m. For those who will miss the only broadcast, there will be a video afterwards and a Molchanovs report with the main highlights of the day.

Let the show begin!

Official reslts for DYNB

The results of the first day of the 30th AIDA World Championship are in! And even though the results didn’t go as we predicted (we only guessed 4 out of the 6 winners), we are thrilled - it’s all due to incredibly talented newcomers that surprised us with outstanding performances. Keep reading to learn more!

Winners among the men

The Championship had hardly started when, in the second heat, Yi(Zy) Zhang (CHN) reached 267m (876ft). His performance placed him in 1st at the time, and he never left that position.

The athlete reached his previous personal best (PB) in 2021 when he dived 254m (833ft) with bifins. Because of this achievement, we considered Yi(Zy) as a probable 3rd-place contender after his teammate Ming (William Joy) Jin (CHN), the current Chinese National DYNB Record Holder with a PB of 276m (906ft), and Dmitri Melnikov (EST), the current Estonian National DYNB Record Holder with a PB of 261m (856ft).

Dmitri, who dived in the fifth heat, finished his dive at 240m (787ft) and fell out of the race for the World Champion title in DYNB. Eventually, the judge gave him a red card, disqualifying him for not showing the surface protocol in the judges’ direction.

Yi(Zy) remained in first place when, in the 12th heat, his teammate William reached a 245m (804ft) distance (31m / 102ft less than his official PB). He remained in 2nd place until the 19th heat, when Po-Yen Lee (TPE) hit the 250m (820ft) mark.

However, the winners weren’t yet secured. In the last heat, three athletes with PBs of over 230m (755ft) performed - and they didn't disappoint. Aleksandr Maksimov (INT) finished a 254m (833ft) distance, improving his PB by 25m (82ft) and winning the bronze medal. Mikhail Briantcev (INT) reached the 256m (840ft) mark, setting a new national record and becoming Vice-Champion.

The male top 3 are as follow:

Yi(Zy) Zhang (CHN) 267m / 876ft - Gold
Mikhail Briantcev (INT) - 256m / 840ft - Silver
Aleksandr Maksimov (INT) 254m / 833ft - Bronze

A remarkable fact is that all the men who aimed for the podium have been performing at World Championships since 2021 and earlier. Yi(Zy), who eventually became the Champion, was competing at this level for the very first time. Congratulations, Yi(Zy) on a successful debut and massive dive! And congratulations to all the winners!

Winners among the women

A similar story happened among the women. According to athletes’ previous achievements, Julia Kozerska (POL) seemed to be the most likely winner. Even though Julia's official PB in DYNB was only 200m (656ft), her world records in other disciplines (including the absolute World Record in DNF of 210m / 689ft) made it clear she was capable of swimming further than 200m with bifins - and in the end, she made the distance. In the 20th heat, Julia successfully reached the mark of 219m (719ft) and received a white card. However, this performance only brought her the bronze medal, which knocked Ke Tang (CHN) into 3rd place with her 215m (705ft) distance in the 13th heat.

The fate of gold and silver medals among women was decided in the 7th heat, where 5 out of 6 athletes turned at 200m (656ft). Paula Johnsson (SWE) finished first at 208m (682ft), repeating her own Swedish National Record and eventually earning herself 6th place in the discipline.

Her neighboring competitors Karlo Grbin (SWE) and Jordan Duncan (AUS) finished at approximately the same time at 213m (699ft) and 215m (705ft), respectively. However, both unfortunately received red cards. Karlo made a mistake in the surface protocol and Jordan faced a surface blackout. It was Jordan's first world championship - she may just have understandably been a little anxious. Good luck next time, Jordan!

Mai Morimura (JPE) made a turn at 200m (656ft) and finished at 220m (722ft), just 1m (3ft) further than Julia Kozerska. At the 2022 Championship, Mai swam with bifins to 207m (679ft), setting a new National Record for Japan and placing 4th in the discipline. Within a year, Mai improved her official PB by 13m (43ft), setting one more national record and winning a silver medal!

It became the silver medal because as she surfaced, Bevin Reynolds (ZAF) was still swimming in lane F. She confidently finished at 232m (761ft) and won the gold, leaving her competitors 12m (39ft) behind - we definitely didn't see that coming. 38-year-old Bevin is a former swimmer from the Western Cape who only started freediving in 2022. Thanks to her, the South African team is present at this year's pool World Championship for the first time. For Bevin, this is not only her first World Championship - it's also her first international freediving competition. Congratulation, Bevin! We hope to see you keep going and inspire more people in your country to freedive!

To sum everything up, the female winners are as follows:

Bevin Reynolds (ZAF) - 232m / 761ft - Gold
Mai Morimura (JPE) - 220m / 722ft - Silver
Julia Kozerska (POL) - 219m / 719ft - Bronze

Congratulations to the athletes on a thrilling first competition day! We also want to thank the competition organizers for their online broadcast and commentating. We’re looking forward for the upcoming days - until then, stay tuned!

Competition Day 2 (June 13)

Starting protocols for DNF

On the second competition day of the 30th AIDA World Championship, the athletes will compete in DNF to see how far they can swim without fins on one breath.

The setup

132 athletes accepted the challenge (14 fewer competitors than the previous day), and the women will be performing together with the men. The start lists are again arranged according to athlete bids, so in order to predict possible winners and not miss the most impressive dives, you’ll need to check the ratings and previous results of the athletes.

But don't worry - we already did it for you!

Top three men

Indisputable current absolute World Record Holder in DNF Mateusz Malina (POL), with his official personal best (PB) of 250m (820ft), isn’t participating in this year’s Championship. Neither is his nearest rival in the discipline and AIDA World Record Holder Guillaume Bourdila (FRA), who previously reached 236m (774ft). All other possible winners haven’t recently performed without fins, so we have to predict the winners according to their previous PBs.

According to these results, the leader is Ming (William Joy) Jin (CHN), who once reached 206m (676ft) and set a Chinese National Record in CNF. As you may remember, William usually dives conservatively in Championships and rarely (not saying never) reaches his PBs. His nearest competitor, with a PB of 200m (656ft), is the Estonian National Record Holder Dmitri Melnikov (EST). Then follows Yi(Zy) Zhang (CHN) and Karol Karcz (POL) with PBs of 196m (643ft) and 185m (607ft), respectively.

Aleksandr Maksimov (INT) will also try his luck at stepping onto the podium. In the Championship in Kuwait, he covered a distance of 178m (584ft).

Top three women

The absolute World Record Holder in DNF among the women - Julia Kozerska (POL) - is fortunately present in the Championship. Julia set her absolute world record of 210m (719ft) at the CMAS Freediving Indoor World Championship 2022. According to AIDA competition rules and records, Julia's PB is 209m (686ft). So the athlete may attempt to set a new AIDA World Record or even a new absolute World Record in DNF. Don't miss it!

In this Championship, Julia doesn't have any serious competitors who would endanger her position at the top of the ranking. Yasuko Ozeki (JPN), Mai Morimura (JPN), and Bevin Reynolds (ZAF), with PBs of 170m (558ft), 165m (541ft), and 165m, respectively, will battle for the silver and bronze medals.

When to turn on the broadcast

The broadcast should be available at 9 a.m. (GMT+9). In Europe, it will be about 2:00 - 3:00 a.m. For those who will miss the only broadcast, there will be a video afterward and a Molchanovs report with the main highlights of the day.

Who are you rooting for?

New AIDA World Record in DNF

On June 13th, 2023, at the 30th AIDA World Championship in Jeju, Julia Kozerska (POL) set a new absolute World Record in DNF swimming 213m (699ft) without fins on one breath.

Rising to the challenge

It's definitely a challenge competing in two World Championships within two months and remaining in peak shape. All other current world record holders skipped this championship event to rest or prepare for the depth season. Julia has accepted the challenge, and now she is the only one among the current world record holders at this competition. She could have taken it easy and still medaled in all the disciplines, yet Julia decided to do her best and impressed the world with a new outstanding achievement.

A long way to the top

Julia swam her first 25m (82ft) distance underwater during a WOPR lifeguard course - underwater swimming was the mandatory part of the exam and the greatest challenge for Julia. Eventually, this difficulty she overcame turned into her life’s passion. Julia started freediving in 2011 and won her first medal in DNF in the World Championship in 2016 with her dive to 167m (548ft) without fins. In 2019, at the CMAS Freediving Indoor European Championship in Istanbul, Julia set her first DNF World Record of 196.95m (646ft).

Then, year by year, Julia competed for the World Record Holder title against Mirela Kardašević (HRV) and Magdalena Solich-Talanda (POL), sometimes winning and sometimes losing to them by several meters.

In 2022, a big breakthrough happened. On June 12th, at the 2022 CMAS Freediving Indoor World Championship, Julia outswam her competitors by 10m (33ft) and set a new absolute World Record in DNF of 210m (689ft). Then, just 9 days later at the 28th AIDA World Championship, she also broke the AIDA World Record with a 209m (686ft) performance.

Today, Julia outdistanced herself and placed the bar even higher to 213m (699ft), making it more difficult for her competitors to reach her at the top.

Every detail counts

We must draw your attention to an important fact: Julia set all 3 of her last DNF World Records (CMAS 210m / 689ft, AIDA 209m / 686ft, and AIDA 213m / 699ft) in 50m (164ft) pools, which is more challenging than in in a 25m (82ft) pool, where an athlete pushes off the wall more often and gets extra propulsion.

For example, the men’s absolute DNF World Record of 250m (820ft) was set by Mateusz Malina (POL) according to AIDA rules in 25m pool. At the 30th AIDA World Championship, none of the men managed to swim further than Julia.

This is an outstanding achievement with a lot of hard work behind it. Congratulations, Julia - it was a miracle to see you diving that far!

Official results for DNF

The day's competition in DNF at the 30th AIDA World Championship is over; it's time to analyze the results of the day and praise the winners.

Mighty women

The competition among the women went on as predicted - we could even say it was a bit boring if the results were not so impressive!

Julia Kozerska (POL) completed the longest dive of the day, swimming even further than any of the men in the Championship. Without serious rivals present at the event, Julia, the current absolute World Record Holder in DNF, competed mainly against herself. And she won! Julia improved her own previous absolute world record in DNF by 3m (10ft), swimming 213m (699ft) in a 50m (164ft) pool.

Bevin Reynolds (ZAF), whose name we learned of just yesterday thanks to her gold-winning debut in her first-ever World Championship, didn't slow her pace and took the silver today! Bevin powerfully swam as far as 180m (591ft) without fins and set her second Continental Record for Africa. Congratulations, Bevin - we couldn't be more amazed!

Mai Morimura (JPN), whom you probably also remember from the previous competition day in DYNB, also set her second new Continental Record for Asia, improving the previous Continental Record by 2m (7ft) and her own official PB by 7m (23ft). The bronze went to Mai, and we congratule her!

In total, on the second competition day, the women set 1 new World Record and 4 new Continental Records as follows:

• Julia Kozerska (POL) - 213m / 699ft - Gold - World Record
• Bevin Reynolds (ZAF) - 180m / 591ft - Silver - African Continental Record
• Mai Morimura (JPN) - 172m / 564ft - Bronze - Asian Continental Record
• Hyemi (Mimi) Kim (KOR) - 162m / 531ft - Asian Continental Record
• Ke Tang (CHN) - 167m / 548ft - Asian Continental Record

Congratulations, ladies!

Athlete vs. Judges: 1 - 0

Yesterday we sent our support and best wishes to Jordan Duncan (AUS), who debuted in the World Championship with a 215m (705ft) dive in DYNB. Jordan's surface protocol wasn't shown during the broadcast, and according to the online protocol, she was given a red card for a surface blackout.

Apparently, it wasn't a blackout. While surfacing, Jordan was interrupted by a safety diver and couldn't reach the lane rope to complete her surface protocol. But the athlete protested - and her protest was satisfied! Jordan was given another chance to complete her DYNB dive. Today she swam 200m (656ft) with bifins, repeating her own National Record. Because of the world record status of the Championship, the result is now recognized as a new Continental Record for Australia. Congratulations, Jordan - we are in awe of your perseverance!

Double “OK“ isn't Okay

Not all athletes could successfully file protests, though. After Karol Karcz (POL) - the only man who attempted to dive further than 200m (656ft) - blacked out at the surface, Yi(Zy) Zhang (CHN) was the leading contender for the gold. Yi(Zy) swam 194m (636ft) and received a white card.

But then the judges changed their ruling and gave him a red card for a double "OK" sign, which violates AIDA's formal surface protocol's rules. The athlete protested, but it was in vain. We sympathize wirh you, Yi(Zy), and hope you will be luckier next time or perform the same at the next CMAS competition; CMAS's surface protocol is more straightforward.

Because of this series of unfortunate events, others had the chance to step onto the podium for the first time. The male winners are as follows:

• Aleksandr Maksimov (INT) - 184m / 604ft - Gold
• Aleksandr Bogdashkin (INT) - 182m / 597ft - Silver
• Inaki Santos (ESP) - 178m / 584ft - Bronze

Alexandr Maximov has been freediving since 2016, but he is a full-time head of a gas rescue service, so freediving is a hobby for him. Nonetheless, he trains almost every day for at least an hour. In 2021, Alexandr won his first world championship medal during the 2021 CMAS Freediving Indoor World Championship. That time, he received a silver medal for his STA performance of 08:53.795. Yesterday, Alexandr also took the bronze for his DYNB dive of 245m (804ft), and today, he eventually got the gold. Congratulations!

For Alexandr Bogdashkin and Inaki Santos, their medals became their first ones won in a world championship. Congratulations, and keep going!

Also, two men set new National Records for their countries:

• Federico Buzzoni (ITA): 176m / 577ft - New Italian National Record
• Lap Hing ( Chris ) Cheung (HKG): 128m / 420ft - New Hong Kong National Record

Congratulations to all the athletes, organizers, judges, and safeties! Half of the Championship is over - June 14th is a day off in Jeju. Have a good rest and recovery day, we look forward to seeing you back on June 15th!

Competition Day 3 (June 15)

Starting protocols for STA

We hope athletes and organizers had a revitalizing day off on June 14th and are now ready for new achievements. June 15th in the 30th AIDA World Championship is the static day - athletes will hold their breaths as long as possible lying on the surface of the pool.

The setup

There are 128 participants; men and women will be performing side by side, trying to beat the current world records in STA. We have been waiting for new world records in this discipline for many years - longer than any other world records among competitive disciplines.

Do the athletes have a chance to set a new one today? Let's figure it out together!

Top three men

The current world record among the men is 11:35. It was set 14 years ago during an individual world record attempt by Stéphane Mifsud (FRA). Stéphane doesn't compete anymore, but he's also had no fierce rivals who could take over his achievement so far.

However, in this Championship, almost all athletes with the longest registered breath-holds are present:

• Rami Bladlav (SWE) with an official personal best (PB) of 10:30
• Florian Dagoury (FRA); his PB is 10:03

Florian will perform in the Championship for the first time. And Rami is already an experienced athlete; however, at his previous championship events, he didn't manage to reach his PB.

If Florian and Rami come up short, we may still be able to count on the following athletes:

• Laurent De Beaucaron (FRA)
• Valdemar Karlsson (SWE)
• Aleksandr Maksimov (INT)

Laurent is CMAS Vice-Champion in STA this year. A month earlier, at the Kuwait CMAS World Freediving Indoor Championship 2023, he held his breath for 9:27. Valdemar was the AIDA World Champion in 2021, and at the previous Championship, he reached 8:58. And Aleksandr almost made it to the podium at the Championship in Kuwait, where he didn't draw breath for an entire 8:56 and appeared in 4th place.

So, would you bet on anyone beating the current world record?

Top three women

The women’s STA World Record has been around for a shorter time - only 10 years. It belongs to Natalia Molchanova (INT). At the Individual AIDA Pool World Championships in 2013, Natalia held her breath for 9:02. Now, several women are already getting closer to this result. They are as follows:

• Heike Schwerdtner (DEU)
• Sylvie Gilson (FRA)
• Julia Kozerska (POL)

Heike, Sylvie, and Julia all participated at the Kuwait CMAS World Freediving Indoor Championship 2023. In that Championship only a month ago, they held their breath for 8:35, 7:36, and 6:38, respectively.

Heike’s result became her new PB, while Sylvie and Julia can actually go longer. Sylvie's PB is 7:49, and Julia can hold her breath for 7:41. But is Julia recovered enough after her tremendous CNF dive of 213m (699ft) just a day ago, when even her dive time of 4:13 looked like a STA performance of an everyday freediver?

The online broadcast day 3 - STA

Official results for STA

The official results of the fourth day of the 30th AIDA World Championship are in. Athletes competed in static, and alas, our dreams of new world records didn't come true. Nevertheless, we witnessed several great performances - keep reading to learn more about them.

Veni, vidi, vici

The most anticipated performance of the day belongs to Florian ‘Mr. 10 Minutes’ Dagoury (FRA). Florian is the second person in the world with the longest breath-hold after his unbeatable compatriot Stéphane Mifsud (FRA), who held his breath for 11:35 in an individual record attempt 14 years ago .

Florian has been freediving since 2013, focusing mainly on FIM and STA. He gradually improved his results until 2021, when Florian eventually held his breath for 10:30 in the Thailand STA Competition. However, in all those years of practice, Florian had never participated in World Championships - until today, that is.

Therefore, we were reasonably excited to see Florian’s name among the competitors in the Championship and his determination to complete a 10-minute performance.

And Florian kept his word! The athlete was calm and relaxed throughout the performance and confidently completed the surface protocol without issue.

An important remark: usually, during STA, athletes avoid extra gear on their faces. They leave only their nose clips because, on human faces, there are receptors that trigger the ‘mammalian dive reflex’ when they come in contact with water. However, Florian feels more comfortable with a mask during his STA performances. Hopefully, competitors won't claim he has a special tube for breathing in there!

 

Protests make or break medal-winning performances

Florian's closest competitor in the Championship was Rami Bladlav (SWE). He had the second-longest personal best (PB) of 10:03 in competition, which he reached in 2022 during the AIDA - JD Apnea competition. However, this time something seemed to have gone wrong. At the 6:31 mark in his breath-hold, Rami shook his head with disappointment and abruptly stood up. His coach didn't see this coming and kept his hand on Rami's back. Therefore, Rami was disqualified for the touch and received a red card.

Then Rami's teammate Valdemar Karlsson (SWE), with a PB of 8:58, also gave up his attempt at 6:42, and was penalized several points for a breath-hold that was shorter than his announced performance.

Florian's teammate - Laurent de Beaucaron (FRA), held his breath for 9:29 min, and the freediving world was ready to celebrate him as the Vice-Champion in STA - that is, until Team Sweden filed a protest. They noticed that Laurent's coach slightly touched the athlete's back during his surface protocol. The protest was satisfied, and Laurent was disqualified.

As a result, Swedish athlete David Spreitz Elings (SWE), who held his breath for 8:36, made his way to third place.

Aleksandr Maksimov (INT), who became a medal collector in the Championship, eventually appeared in second place. Alexandr held his breath for 9:10 and received the silver. Within the month since the Kuwait CMAS World Freediving Indoor Championship 2023 concluded, Aleksandr improved his PB in STA by 13 seconds and climbed from 4th to 2nd place in the discipline. Aleksandr’s performance has also become a new national record for his country. Congratulations, Aleksandr!

The male pedestal is as follows:

• Florian Dagoury (FRA) - 10:01 - Gold
• Aleksandr Maksimov (INT) - 9:10 - Silver
• David Spreitz Elings (SWE) - 8:36 Bronze

Winners among the women

We’re happy to say we were 100% accurate in our predictions among the women. Without further delay, the winners among women are as follows:

• Heike Schwerdtner (DEU) - 08:45 - Gold and new German National Record
• Julia Kozerska (POL) - 08:03 - Silver and new Polish National Record
• Sylvie Gilson (FRA) - 08:01 - Bronze and new French National Record

And if the men still have at least one minute to go to to achieve a new absolute STA World Record, the women of the competition have gotten much closer to their own new world record. By the way, the ten-year anniversary of Natalia Molchanova’s STA World Record of 9:02 will be in 6 days. Did you catch that? Take another look at Heike’s time - she was only 17 seconds away from a new world record!

We also can't miss the chance to express our admiration for Julia, who continues getting medals and improving PBs even after a tremendous and exhausting world-record-setting DNF dive of 213m (699ft). Congratulations, Julia!

Sylvie Gilson, unlike Julia, only focuses on STA. And comparing her performance at the Championship in Kuwait, Sylvie improved her result by an incredible 35 seconds. It is a new PB for Sylvie and a new National Record for France. Congratulations!

Four other AIDA National Records were made today by the following women:

• Iiris Ala-Olla (FIN) - 7:11 - New National Record for Finland
• Yuriko Ichihara (JPN) - 7:19 - New National Record for Japan
• Lin Hsin Ju (TPE) - 6:27 - New National Record for Chinese Taipei
• Patricia Paige Ong (SGP) - 6:12 - New National Record for Singapore

What a day! Congratulations to everyone, and thank you for the excitement and inspiration!

Competition Day 4 (June 16)

Starting protocols for DYN

Ladies and gentlemen, the day has come - the final day of the 30th AIDA World Championship. On June 16th, athletes will compete in dynamic with monofin (DYN). Let's get ready for what awaits.

The setup

On this final day, the number of participants is higher than on any other day of the Championship. 150 athletes have made their announcements, and the men and women will compete together again.

We don't expect new world records on this day, but it will be where the fate of the Natalia Molchanova Memorial Award is decided. The award was established in 2015 in memory of Natalia Molchanova, who was nicknamed the 'queen of freediving' by the freediving community for her outstanding achievements in sports and tremendous contribution to the development of freediving. It's presented to the most worthy male and female athletes, and the awardees are usually chosen by AIDA World Championship judges;. Most of the time, however, the award is given to the overall winners of the competition.

In other words, it’s a very important day to look forward to!

Top three men

The strongest men in DYN among the competing freedivers are AIDA World Record Holder Guillaume Bourdila (FRA) with a personal best (PB) of 301m (988ft) and Mateusz Malina (POL), the absolute World Record Holder with PB of 321.45m (1,055ft). Unfortunately, both aren't present at this championship event.

On top of that, among the men who are participating in this Championship, those with the highest PBs and those currently in top shape aren’t one and the same. This makes predicting possible winners more complicated.

The two men with the highest PBs are as follows:

• Ming (William Joy) Jin (CHN); PB of 296m (971ft) reached in July 2021
• Dmitri Melnikov (EST); PB of 267m (875ft) reached in May 2023

So far, both athletes haven’t been very lucky in reaching their PBs in other disciplines these past days. Therefore, we believe that the following athletes have good chances at stepping onto the podium:

• Mikhail Briantcev (INT) - PB of 266m (873ft)
• Karol Karcz (POL) - PB of 262.33m (861ft)
• Yueh Shiang Hsu (TPE) - PB of 259m (850ft)
• Yi(Zy) Zhang (CHN) - PB of 258m (846ft)

So far during this championship event, Karol and Yueh Shiang haven’t reached their PBs in any discipline. However, a month ago at the Championship in Kuwait, both swam their furthest distance with monofin (Karol with 262.33 / 861ft) and bifins (Yueh Shiang with 239m / 784ft).

Both Yi(Zy) and Mikhail improved their PBs in this Championship, winning gold and silver medals in DYNB. This signifies to us that both athletes are currently in great shape.

But it’s ultimately up to you who to bet on!

Top three women

The prediction among the women is more straightforward. The absolute World Record of 277m (909ft) belongs to Magdalena Solich-Talanda (POL), who isn’t participating in this year’s AIDA Championship.

However, Magdalena’s teammate, Julia Kozerska (POL), not only has the highest PB of 264m (866ft) from the Championship in Kuwait in May 2023 - she’s also in peak shape. Julia has already medaled in all the disciplines at this Championship. So it's very probable that Julia will win the gold in DYN as well.

After that, we believe the following women will battle for the silver and bronze medals:

• Yasuko Ozeki (JPN) - PB of 214m (702ft)
• Hanako Hirose (JPN) - PB of 216m (709ft)
• Jordan Duncan (AUS) - PB of 209m (686ft)
• Heike Schwerdtner (DEU) - PB of 208m (682ft)
• Mai Morimura (JPN) - PB of 207m (679ft)

According to their previous performances in the Championship, we would say that Mai and Jordan have higher chances to medal, but we wouldn’t dare bet on either of them since things still may take an unexpected turn. Let’s watch the broadcast and see who’ll make it to the top!

The online broadcast day 4 - DYN

Official results for DYN

The last competition day in DYN at the 30th AIDA World Championship is now over and it's time for the final conclusion.

Winners among the men

Since 2021, Ming (William Joy) Jin (CHN) has been fourth in the world according to AIDA’s DYN rankings. At his first CMAS Freediving Indoor World Championship 2021, William swam the longest distance of 286m (938ft). He might have gotten the gold if it wasn’t for a serious mistake during the surface protocol by holding onto the pool edge, which resulted in his performance being disqualified.

And although, at this year’s Championship, William had the highest personal best (PB) in all the dynamic disciplines among the men, he didn’t manage to make his way to the podium. However, on the last competition day, William lived up to his status swimming a distance of 287m (942ft) with monofin. This result is still 9m (30ft) less than his PB, but nevertheless, it brought him the gold! Congratulations, William - you did it at last!

Unlike William, Mikhail Briantcev (INT) and Yueh Shiang Hsu (TPE) improved their previous PBs by swimming as far as 271m (889ft) and 264m (866ft), respectively. For Mikhail, the performance brought him his second silver medal in the Championship. And Yueh Hsiang won his first bronze and set a new National Record for Chinese Taipei, Taiwan.

The following 11 men have also set National Records for their countries:

• Xingqiang Fu (SGP) - 239m / 784ft - new National Record for Singapore
• Rolly Ben (PHL) - 200m / 656ft - new National Record for the Philippines
• Ernaldo Sanyoto (IDN) - 190m / 623ft - new National Record for Indonesia
• Klaus Kasten (DEU) - 255m / 837ft - new National Record for Germany
• Jarrod Briffa (AUS) - 235m / 771ft - new National Record for Australia
• Lap Hing (Chris) Cheung (HKG) - 200m / 656ft - new National Record for Hong Kong
• Hakyong Kim (KOR) - 256m / 840ft - new National Record for Korea
• Nico Guzman (PHL) - 201m / 659ft - new National Record for the Philippines
• Benjamin Eckert (AUS) - 250m / 820ft - new National Record for Australia
• Shinya Oi (JPN) - 245m / 804ft - new National Record for Japan
• Inaki Santos (ESP) - 238m / 781ft - new National Record for Spain

Congratulations to all the winners and new National Record Holders!

Winners among the women

Among the women, the gold was won by Julia Kozerska (POL). We hope no one doubted the athlete who won medals in all of the disciplines at this Championship. Julia didn't push her limits this time, swimming 250m (820ft) with her monofin, which is 14m (46ft) less than her PB. It was enough to put her in first place with a 9m (30ft) gap between her and second place.

But it doesn't mean that the second-place athlete took it easy. Bevin Reynolds (ZAF) dived 241m (791ft) and won her second silver medal. In this, her first-ever World Championship, Bevin placed top-three in all dynamic disciplines. Congratulation, Bevin - we hope you will keep training and that we'll be celebrating you at next year's Championship, as well!

Third and fourth places were only separated by 1m (3ft). Two Japanese athletes, Mai Morimura and Hanako Hirose, swam approximately the same distance of 237m (778ft) and 236m (774ft), respectively. Within only a year, Mai has significantly improved her results in all dynamic disciplines. Particularly in DYN, Mai swam 30m (98ft) further than she did in last year's Championship and set a new Japanese National Record!

Now, Mai is number one in all dynamic disciplines in her country. Such great progress, Mai - congratulations!

The following 18 women have also set National Records for their countries:

• Shiela Mariano (PHL) - 165m / 541ft - new National Record for the Philippines
• Jiyeon Kim (KOR) - 207m / 679ft - new National Record for Korea
• Mikaela Concepcion (PHL) - 168m / 551ft - new National Record for the Philippines
• Zhi Christina Li (CHN) - 213m / 699ft - new National Record for China
• Tracy Roxanne (PHL) - 175m / 574ft - new National Record for the Philippines
• Safir Abadi (IDN) - 161m / 528ft - new National Record for Indonesia
• Yu Fang Liu (TPE) - 200m / 656ft - new National Record for Chinese Taipei, Taiwan
• Nara Martins Ishikawa (BRA) - 191m / 627ft - new National Record for Brazil
• Windy Apsari Burhan (IDN) - 167m / 548ft - new National Record for Indonesia
• He Dai (CHN) - 210m / 689ft - new National Record for China
• Yongju Lee (KOR) - 210m - new National Record for Korea
• Yujung Chen (TPE) - 209m / 686ft - new National Record for Chinese Taipei, Taiwan
• Ke Tang (CHN) - 229m / 751ft - new National Record for China
• Heike Schwerdtner (DEU) - 223m / 732ft - new National Record for Germany
• Hyemi (Mimi) Kim (KOR) - 214m / 702ft - new National Record for Korea
• Yunsun Kim (KOR) - 213m / 699ft - new National Record for Korea
• Hanako Hirose (JPN) - 236m / 774ft - new National Record for Japan
• Yasuko Ozeki (JPN) - 221m / 725ft - new National Record for Japan

Overall winners

The overall winner among women was easily and indisputably defined. Julia Kozerska (POL) won the bronze in DYNB, the gold in DNF, the silver in STA, and the gold in DYN, earning 437.6 points in total and leaving her competitors 47.3 points behind. This means, that Natalia Molchanova Memorial Award went to Poland for the fourth year in a row. In previous years, the Award was won by Julia's teammate - Magdalena Solich-Talanda.

Among the men, first and second places in the overall rating are only separated by 1 point! Aleksandr Maksimov (INT) was lucky to gain this 1-point advantage over Ming (William Joy) Jin (CHN) and won the award! Aleksandr won the bronze in DYNB, the gold in DNF, the silver in STA, and landed in 6th place in DYN, earning 455.5 points in total.

Congratulations, Julia and Aleksandr! Better luck to Bevin and William next time!

On this, the 30th AIDA World Championship is over - see you next month at Vertical Blue 2023!