Natalia Vadimovna Molchanova (Russian: Наталья Вадимовна Молчанова; born 8 May 1962) is a Russian champion freediver, multiple world record holder and is the current President of the Russian Freedive Federation.

On 2 August 2015 she went missing during a recreational dive and is presumed to be dead after search efforts were abandoned on 5 August.

Personal life

Molchanova was born in Ufa in 1962. Molchanova has a son Alexey and daughter Oksana.

Career

Molchanova was the world's most decorated freediver ever, holding 41 world records by the time of her death and winning 23 gold medals during her lengthy career. At the 2007 Freediving World Championships in Maribor, Slovenia, her winning time in the static discipline was better than the winning male gold medal. In September 2009, she became the first woman ever to pass 100 meters diving with constant weight, in a dive to 101 meters in Sharm el Sheikh, Egypt. Molchanova was also the first woman to dive on one breath through the Blue Hole arch in Dahab, Egypt.

She first trained in swimming, but semi-retired for about 20 years after giving birth. She resumed training aged 40, and shifted from swimming to freediving. Her first freediving competition was the 2003 Russian championships in Moscow, where she set a national record. Her son is also a prominent freediving competitor. Molchanova later worked as a freediving instructor at the Russian State University of Physical Education, Sport, Youth and Tourism.

Disappearance

On 2 August 2015, she was reported missing after a dive near Ibiza, Spain. Initial rescue and recovery efforts were unsuccessful. As of 4 August, search and rescue efforts continued, but she was presumed dead by the search party, including her son Alexey Molchanov.