Alexey Molchanov
Alexey Molchanov is the deepest man in the history of competitive freediving. He set his first world record in 2008 with a 250m monofin swim on one breath. Since then, he has focused on depth discipline and began to compete regularly in the open ocean.
In 2012 he set a new world record in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, when he dove to 125m beneath the surface – far deeper than scuba divers would ever dare explore – and back on a single breath with a monofin. Later that year he broke his own world record with a dive to 126m in Dean’s Blue Hole in the Bahamas. In 2013 at the AIDA World Championships in Kalamata, Greece, Alexey shocked the world when he broke his record yet again, diving to 128m under difficult conditions. He extended that record to 129m in Baja in 2016.
Overall he’s set 19 world records in both CMAS and AIDA and has earned 15 combined gold, silver and bronze - individual and team medals at world championship events. In 2020 he has set an official Guiness World Record with a 181m dive under ice.
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. Alexey has followed her footsteps contributed to his passion by running the Russian Freediving Federation and developing some of the finest freediving equipment available.
An instructor, entrepreneur and professional athlete, Alexey Molchanov splits his time between his home in Moscow and regular training camps and competitions all over the world. He often brings his camera and drone along with him. Given what he does and where he travels, the results are often spectacular!