Molchanov Sets 133m and 127m Freediving World Records

Alexey Molchanov closed the 2026 CMAS Depth World Championships with two world records, the 44th and 45th of a career without equal in the sport.

Eight days, two records

The first mark fell on 19 August off Roatan, Honduras. Competing as an independent athlete, Molchanov pulled himself down the guide rope to 133 metres in Free Immersion. He improved his own CMAS standard by a single metre. Eight days later he returned for Constant Weight Bi-Fins, powering down with separate fins to 127 metres.

The longest dive he has ever made

That second descent and ascent took 5 minutes and 25 seconds. He surfaced to a white card and told reporters afterwards, "My 45th World Record and the longest dive I've ever done. Phew." Poland's Piotr Kubiak took silver with a 111-metre dive, a full 16 metres shallower. France's Guillaume Bourdila reached 117 metres but was disqualified for pulling on the line during his ascent.

A full sweep in warm water

Molchanov also won gold in Constant Weight and Constant Weight No Fins. He swept all four men's titles while preparing for four separate disciplines in the same weeks. "My last bifins session was a couple of weeks ago. So the speed wasn't quite where I wanted it to be," he admitted.

The 133-metre Free Immersion mark does not stand as the deepest ever recorded. Croatia's Petar Klovar holds a 137-metre AIDA mark. But inside the CMAS rulebook it erased the previous number. Across both governing bodies, Molchanov already held the absolute bi-fins record of 129 metres, set in the Philippines a month earlier.

The 45th record landed quietly, pending ratification, on a day when Ukraine's Nataliia Zharkova also equalled a women's absolute mark. The deepest man in history had simply reset the numbers and left the line.