Russian world record holder for freediving

Alexey Molchanov (Russian: Алексей Олегович Молчанов, born 6 March 1987 in Volgograd) is a Russian champion freediver, 24-time world champion (AIDA and CMAS), world record holder, and freediving promoter. He is also president of the "Freediving Federation" *ociation, president of AIDA Russia, head of freediving school named in honor of Natalia Molchanova, and designer and engineer of the freediving equipment brand Molchanovs. Alexey is a son of Natalia Molchanova – multiple champion and world record holder in freediving.

Contents

• 1 Career
• 2 Personal life
• 3 Records and medals
• 4 Personal bests
• 5 Filmography
• 6 References
• 7 External links

Career

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 disciplines and began to compete in the open water.

In 2012, he set a world record in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, when he dived to 125m using a monofin. Later that year, Alexey broke his own world record with a dive to 126m in Dean's Blue Hole in the Bahamas. Alexey broke this record again at the 2013 AIDA World Championships in Kalamata, Greece, where he dived on one breath to 128m and returned to surface under difficult conditions. He extended that record to 129m in Baja in 2016. In 2018, Alexey dived 130m in the Bahamas and set a new world record.

Overall, he has set 25 world records (13 records according to AIDA rules, 12 records according to CMAS rules, and 1 Guinness record) and earned 32 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. Alexey has followed her footsteps and in addition to running the Russian Freediving Federation, he is developing Molchanovs brand, which produces free-diving gear.

An entrepreneur athlete, Alexey Molchanov splits his time between his homes in Moscow and Dahab, runs regular training camps in Turkey, Mexico, on Lake Baikal and even in the Kingdom of Tonga, and competes all over the world. Alexey is actively involved in environmental issues and water purification all over the world. He often brings his camera and drone along with him and one may find his underwater photos in online galleries and exhibitions.

In 2020, he pushed the bifins depth still further and earned a Guinness World Record for longest recorded dive – nearly 600 feet under ice (181 m).

In March 2021, Alexey dived 80 meters, or approximately 262 feet, beneath the one-meter-thick icy surface and back up on a single breath. In the process, he broke another world record: the deepest free dive under the ice with fins. He also became an amb*ador of the Lake Baikal Foundation.

In July 2021, Alexey Molchanov was a compe*or of the nine-day international compe*ion Vertical Blue at Dean's Blue Hole in the Bahamas. He made three world record dives in different disciplines. He also set two records in CMAS: 87 and 90 metres in the CNF discipline.

Personal life

Molchanov has been married to Elena Molchanova (Sokolova) since 2016. Elena is a Russian swimmer, a winner of the World Universiade (2013), a participant of the 2008 and 2012 Olympic Games, and an international-cl* Master of Sports of Russia.

Records and medals

Summary:

• STA – 8 min. 33 sec.
• DYN – 258 m
• DNF – 195 m
• CWT – 131 m
• CWTB — 118 m
• CNF – 96 m
• FIM – 126 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

Filmography

• Один вдох (2020)
• Religions of Sports (2018)

References

External links

Breathtaking undersea world of a 'Moscow Merman', By Sheena McKenzie, CNN

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

Diving
equipment
manufacturers

• AP Diving
• Apeks
• Aqua Lung America
• Aqua Lung/La Spirotechnique
• Beuchat
• René Cavalero
• Cis-Lunar
• Cressi-Sub
• Dacor
• DESCO
• Dive Xtras
• Divex
• Diving Unlimited International
• Drägerwerk
• Fenzy
• Maurice Fernez
• Technisub
• Oscar Gugen
• Heinke
• HeinrichsWeikamp
• Johnson Outdoors
• Mares
• Morse Diving
• Nemrod
• Oceanic Worldwide
• Porpoise
• Sub Sea Systems
• Shearwater Research
• Siebe Gorman
• Submarine Products
• Suunto

Remotely operated
underwater vehicles

• 8A4-cl* ROUV
• ABISMO
• Atlantis ROV Team
• CURV
• Deep Drone
• Épaulard
• Global Explorer ROV
• Goldfish-cl* ROUV
• Kaikō ROV
• Kaşif ROUV
• Long-Term Mine Reconnaissance System
• Mini Rover ROV
• OpenROV
• ROV KIEL 6000
• ROV PHOCA
• Scorpio ROV
• Sea Dragon-cl* ROV
• Seabed tractor
• Seafox drone
• Seahorse ROUV
• SeaPerch
• SJT-cl* ROUV
• T1200 Trenching Unit
• VideoRay UROVs

Safety equipment

• Diver down flag
• Diving shot
• ENOS Rescue-System
• Hyperbaric lifeboat
• Hyperbaric stretcher
• Jackstay
• Jonline
• Reserve gas supply

General

• Diving spread
  • Air spread
  • Saturation spread
• Hot water system
• Sonar
  • Underwater acoustic positioning system
  • Underwater acoustic communication

Underwater
work

• Commercial offs* diving
• Dive leader
• Diver training
  • Recreational diver training
• Hazmat diving
• Hyperbaric welding
• Media diving
• Nondestructive testing
• Pearl hunting
• Police diving
• Potable water diving
• Public safety diving
• Scientific diving
• Ships husbandry
• Sponge diving
• Submarine pipeline
• Underwater archaeology
  • Archaeology of shipwrecks
• Underwater construction
  • Offs* construction
• Underwater demolition
• Underwater logging
• Underwater photography
• Underwater search and recovery
  • Underwater searches
• Underwater videography

Diving
contractors

• COMEX
• Helix Energy Solutions Group
• International Marine Contractors *ociation

Tools and
equipment

• Abrasive waterjet
• Airlift
• Baited remote underwater video
• In-water surface cleaning
  • Brush cart
  • Cavitation cleaning
  • Pressure washing
  • Pigging
• Lifting bag
• Remotely operated underwater vehicle
• Thermal lance
• Tremie
• Water jetting

Underwater
weapons

• Limpet mine
• Speargun
  • Hawaiian sling
  • Polespear

Diving
procedures

• Ascending and descending
  • Emergency ascent
• Boat diving
  • Canoe and kayak diving
• Buddy diving
  • buddy check
• Decompression
  • Decompression practice
  • Pyle stop
  • Ratio decompression
• Dive briefing
• Dive log
• Dive planning
  • Rule of thirds
  • Scuba gas planning
• Diver communications
  • Diving hand signals
  • Diving line signals
  • Diver voice communications
• Diver rescue
• Diver training
• Doing It Right
• Drift diving
• Gas blending for scuba diving
• Night diving
• Rebreather diving
• Solo diving
• Water safety

Risk
management

• Checklist
• Hazard identification and risk *essment
  • Hazard *ysis
  • Job safety *ysis
  • Risk *essment
• Risk control
  • Hierarchy of hazard controls
• Incident pit
• Lockout–tagout
• Permit To Work
• Redundancy
• Safety data sheet
• Situation awareness

Immersion
related

• Asphyxia
• Drowning
• Hypothermia
• Immersion diuresis
• Instinctive drowning response
• Laryngospasm
• Salt water aspiration syndrome
• Swimming-induced pulmonary edema

Treatment

• Demand valve oxygen therapy
• First aid
• Hyperbaric medicine
• Hyperbaric treatment schedules
• In-water recompression
• Oxygen therapy
• Therapeutic recompression

Personnel

• Diving Medical Examiner
• Diving Medical Prac*ioner
• Diving Medical Technician
• Hyperbaric nursing

Screening

• Atrial septal defect
• Effects of drugs on fitness to dive
• Fitness to dive
• Psychological fitness to dive

ResearchMilitary and
covert operations

• Raid on Alexandria (1941)
• Sinking of the Rainbow Warrior

Scientific projects

• 1992 cageless shark-diving expedition
• Mission 31

IncidentsRecreational
scuba
certification
levelsDiver training
certification
and registration
organisations

• European Underwater Federation (EUF)
• International Diving Regulators and Certifiers Forum (IDRCF)
• International Diving Schools *ociation (IDSA)
• International Marine Contractors *ociation (IMCA)
• List of diver certification organizations
• National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)
• Nautical Archaeology Society
• Universal Referral Program
• World Recreational Scuba Training Council (WRSTC)

Military diver
training centres

• Defence Diving School
• Navy Diving Salvage and Training Center
• Underwater Escape Training Unit

Military diver
training courses

• United States Marine Corps Combatant Diver Course

Diving
physiology

• Artificial gills
• Cold shock response
• Diving reflex
• Equivalent narcotic depth
• Lipid
• Maximum operating depth
• Metabolism
• Physiological response to water immersion
• Tissue
• Underwater vision

Diving
environmentSpecial
interest
groups

• Artificial Reef Society of British Columbia
• CMAS Europe
• Coral Reef Alliance
• Diving Equipment and Marketing *ociation
• Divers Alert Network
• Green Fins
• Finger Lakes Underwater Preserve *ociation
• Historical Diving Society
• Karst Underwater Research
• Nautical Archaeology Program
• Nautical Archaeology Society
• Naval Air Command Sub Aqua Club
• Project AWARE
• Reef Check
• Reef Life Survey
• Rubicon Foundation
• Save Ontario Shipwrecks
• SeaKeys
• Sea Research Society
• Society for Underwater Historical Research
• Society for Underwater Technology
• Underwater Archaeology Branch, Naval History & Heritage Command

Submarine escape
and rescue

• Escape trunk
• International Submarine Escape and Rescue Liaison Office
• McCann Rescue Chamber
• Submarine Escape and Rescue system (Royal Swedish Navy)
• Submarine escape training facility
• Submarine Escape Training Facility (Australia)
• Submarine rescue ship

Neutral buoyancy
facilities for
Astronaut training

• Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory
• Neutral buoyancy pool
• Neutral buoyancy simulation as a training aid
• Neutral Buoyancy Simulator
• Space Systems Laboratory
• Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center

Other

• Nautilus Productions
• Helicopter Aircrew Breathing Device

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