Nick Pelios
Freediver, Creator
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Nick Pelios
Freediver, Creator
The CMAS World Championship concluded with a thrilling display of underwater athleticism and record-breaking achievements. From May 10th to May 12th, the world's top athletes competed in various disciplines, showcasing their skills and determination. With disciplines like DYN-BF, static apnea, and Speed 8x50, the championship witnessed astonishing performances and the establishment of New World Records. The competition showcased the prowess of divers across different categories, including seniors, masters, and juniors. Let's delve into the highlights of this exhilarating event, celebrating the exceptional achievements of these remarkable athletes.
The championship commenced on May 9th with the challenging DNF (dynamic no fins) discipline, renowned as the most technically demanding in pool freediving. Competitors were required to swim underwater for a distance using only their arms and legs, relying solely on their breath-holding abilities without the aid of fins. This discipline is widely regarded as the purest and most natural form of freediving. Notably, athletes were not categorized by gender; instead, they dove together based on their previous best performances. It was a captivating sight to witness the top male and female athletes gracefully diving side by side.
In the male senior category, Mateusz Malina of Poland secured the gold medal and successfully defended his World Champion title with an impressive dive of 228.80m. Close on his heels was Guillaume Bourdila from France, earning the vice-world champion title with a dive of 227.52m. Paolo Fontana from Italy claimed the third spot on the podium, securing the bronze medal with a dive of 210.64m. Within the female senior category, Yulia Kozerska, also from Poland, reclaimed her World Champion title by winning the gold medal with a dive of 200m. Magdalena Solich-Talanda, also representing Poland, clinched the vice-champion title with a dive of 187.10m. Italy achieved the third-place position with Livia Bregonzio securing the bronze medal for her dive of 164.77m.
Moving on to the male Masters Category M50, Aris Ioannidis from Greece successfully defended his World Champion title, claiming the gold medal with a dive of 144.49m. Andrea's Mayer from Hungary secured the silver medal with a dive of 142.35m, while Arnault Manner from France won the bronze medal for his 124.83m dive. There were no women competing in the F50 category. In the M55 category for men, Grzegorz Mucha from Poland secured the gold medal and the world champion title with a dive of 134.43m. Marc G. Verstappen from Belgium earned the silver medal with a dive of 126.55m, while Frederic Maire from Australia took home the bronze medal with an 89.31m dive. In the Masters Category F55 for women, Laurence Gueguen from France emerged as the world champion, winning the gold medal with a dive of 134.4m. Eva Hinz from Germany secured the silver medal with a dive of 66.68m, and Maie Albader from Kuwait won the bronze medal with a dive of 49.16m. Moving on to the masters M60 category, Francesco Franceschinis from Italy claimed the first-place position with a dive of 119.1m, Hans-Jurgen Lenzen from Germany secured the second-place spot with a dive of 73.94m, and Alberto Giannini from Chile won the bronze medal with a 65m dive. In the male juniors category, Jules Forest from France emerged as the world champion, winning the gold medal with a dive of 128.75m. Nida Bulut from Turkey secured the silver medal with a dive of 113.26m, and Muhammad Bin Aedi Faizal from Malaysia won the bronze medal with a dive of 50m. Within the female junior category, Sabine Manz from Ecuador claimed the gold medal for her dive of 108.04m. Akar Alya from Turkey won the silver medal with a dive of 103.15m, while Toprak Toprak, also representing Turkey, secured the bronze medal with a dive of 80.24m.
On May 10th, the championship featured the DYN-BF (dynamic with Bifins) discipline, which is the most popular discipline with a high participation rate, and numerous New World Records were achieved across various categories. This time, athletes were divided into male and female groups, with the female category starting first. In the female senior category, Magdalena Solich-Talanda emerged as the World Champion, winning the gold medal and setting a remarkable New World Record with a dive of 263.64m. Livia Bregonzio from Italy secured the second-place spot, earning the silver medal with a dive of 243.40m. Gemma Vila Catala claimed the third place, winning the bronze medal with a dive of 211m. Within the male senior category, Goran Colak from Croatia claimed the gold medal and became the New World Champion by setting an astonishing New World Record with a dive of 292.15m. David Custic, also from Croatia, secured the second-place position, earning the silver medal with a dive of 276.55m. Guillaume Bourdila from France won the third-place spot, securing the bronze medal with a dive of 273.03m. Mateuzs Malina opted not to compete.
Moving on to the male Masters Category M50, Vladimir Amvrosov won the gold medal with a dive of 200m. Lemay Alvarez from Cuba secured the silver medal with a dive of 195.68m, and Arnault Manner from France claimed the bronze medal for his dive of 193.28m. No women competed in the M50 F category. In the M55 M category for men, Nacho Peral from Spain emerged as the World Champion, winning the gold medal and setting a breathtaking world record with a dive of 203.56m. Grzegorz Mucha secured the second-place position with a dive of 203.48m, earning the silver medal. Marco Massi from Italy won the third place with a dive of 175.40m. Within the Masters category M55 F for women, Laurence Gueguen from France claimed the gold medal and set an impressive world record with a performance of 185.50m. Natasa Boscovic from Serbia, the previous world record holder, secured the second-place spot with a dive of 152.98m. Birgit Wesemann from Germany claimed the third-place position with a dive of 135.91m. Moving to the masters M60 M category, Francesco Franceschinis from Italy claimed the first-place position and set a world record with a dive of 155.05m. Alberto Gannini from Switzerland secured the second-place position with a dive of 139.16m. In the female masters category M60 F, Ute Weinrich from Germany won the gold medal and set a new world record of 105.70m, surpassing her previous record.
In the male juniors category, Jules Forest from France emerged as the gold medalist and World Champion with a dive of 159.33m. Nida Murathan Bulut from Turkey secured the silver medal with a dive of 134.80m, while Muhammad Baran Iscan, also from Turkey, won the bronze medal with a dive of 79.50m. Within the female junior category, Toprak Toprak from Turkey claimed the gold medal with a dive of 136.10m. Sabine Manz Romero from Ecuador won the silver medal with a dive of 121.98m, and Alya Akar, also representing Turkey, secured the bronze medal with a dive of 80.24m.
On the third day of the CMAS World Championship, which took place on May 11th, the competition began with the static apnea discipline. In this discipline, athletes must hold their breath underwater while remaining motionless, facedown in the water. In the male senior category, Branco Petrovic from Serbia claimed the gold medal and the title of World Champion with an impressive performance of 10 minutes and 2.81 seconds. Laurent de Beaucaron from France secured the silver medal with a time of 9 minutes and 27.84 seconds, while Budimit Sobat from Croatia won the bronze medal with a time of 9 minutes and 9.42 seconds. Heike Schwerdtner from Germany became the World Champion in the female senior category, winning the gold medal with a time of 8 minutes and 36.10 seconds. Sylvie Gibson from France took home the silver medal with a time of 7 minutes and 36.45 seconds, and Beatrice Rouvier, also from France, won the bronze medal with a time of 7 minutes and 30.16 seconds.
In the male Masters Category M50, Arnault Manner from France secured the gold medal with a breath hold time of 6 minutes and 27.32 seconds. Aris Ioannidis from Greece won the silver medal with a time of 6 minutes and 19.38 seconds, while Boris Just from Austria claimed the bronze medal with a time of 5 minutes and 54.19 seconds. There were no women competing in the F50 category. Within the M55 category for men, Grzegorz Mucha from Poland became the World Champion, winning the gold medal with a time of 6 minutes and 8.71 seconds. Marc G. Verstappen from Belgium secured the second-place position and the silver medal with a time of 5 minutes and 4.16 seconds, while Frederic Maire from Australia won the bronze medal with a time of 5 minutes and 3.04 seconds. Laurence Gueguen from France clinched the gold medal and the title of World Champion in the F55 category for females, achieving a breath hold time of 6 minutes and 47.75 seconds. Birgit Wesemann from Germany secured the second-place position with a time of 5 minutes and 6.53 seconds, and Maie Albader from Kuwait won the bronze medal with a time of 4 minutes and 42.87 seconds. In the masters M60 category, two athletes from Germany claimed gold medals. Ute Weinrich won the gold medal in the women's category with a time of 4 minutes and 35.83 seconds, while Hans-Jurgen Lenzen won the gold medal in the men's category with a time of 3 minutes and 23.79 seconds.
In the male juniors category, Nida Murathan Bulut from Turkey became the gold medalist and the World Champion with a breath hold time of 4 minutes and 44.03 seconds. Anas Albalwi won the silver medal with a time of 3 minutes and 6.60 seconds, and Muhammad Elman Raif Zaid from Malaysia claimed the bronze medal with a time of 2 minutes and 24.52 seconds. Within the female junior category, Alya Akar from Turkey won the gold medal with a breath hold time of 4 minutes and 33.02 seconds. Toprak Toprak, also from Turkey, secured the silver medal with a time of 3 minutes and 18.40 seconds. The second discipline of Day 3 was the Speed 8x50. Athletes swam 50m as fast as possible, eight times.
In the senior male category of the Speed 8x50 discipline, Mikhail Drozdov claimed the gold medal and became the world champion with an impressive time of 3 minutes and 29.77 seconds. Guiseppe Fusto from Italy secured the silver medal with a time of 3 minutes and 36.20 seconds, while Derlin Toparlak from Turkey won the bronze medal with a time of 3 minutes and 36.34 seconds. Among the female senior athletes, Chiara Zaffaroni from Italy emerged as the fastest and the world champion, completing the event in 4 minutes and 10.19 seconds. Anastasiia Beletskaia won the silver medal with a time of 4 minutes and 27.75 seconds, and Sofia Strelets took home the bronze medal with a time of 4 minutes and 40.08 seconds. In the Masters category M1 for men, Aris Ioannidis from Greece continued his success by securing the gold medal with a time of 6 minutes and 5.85 seconds. Andrei Marazevich won the silver medal with a time of 8 minutes and 46.72 seconds, and A. Alperin Graifman from Argentina claimed the bronze medal with a time of 8 minutes and 47.18 seconds. Laurent Breidenbach from France won the gold medal in the Masters category M2 for men, completing the event in 4 minutes and 51.03 seconds. Frederic Dominique Maire from Australia secured the silver medal with a time of 7 minutes and 32.30 seconds. In the Masters category M2 for women, Birgit Wesemann from Germany won the gold medal with a time of 10 minutes and 48.22 seconds. Emil Lorenz from Germany emerged as the gold medalist and the world champion in the male juniors category, finishing the event in 5 minutes and 35.86 seconds. Mohammed Iscan from Turkey won the silver medal with a time of 7 minutes and 29.44 seconds, while Renan Yaman, also from Turkey, claimed the bronze medal with a time of 7 minutes and 49.44 seconds.
Aurora Ricciardelli from Italy secured the gold medal in the female junior category with a time of 6 minutes and 59.72 seconds.
May 12th marked the final day of the World Championship, concluding with the exciting discipline of DYN (dynamic with monofin), which witnessed remarkable performances and the establishment of impressive New World Records. In the senior male category, the gold medal and the title of New World Champion were claimed by Guillaume Bourdila from France, who executed an incredible dive reaching a distance of 306.60 meters. Mauro Generali from Italy secured the silver medal with a dive of 300 meters, while Goran Colak from Croatia won the bronze medal with a dive of 299.50 meters. Yulia Kozerska from Poland emerged as the World Champion in the female senior category, earning the gold medal for her impressive dive of 264 meters. Magdalena Solich-Talanda, also from Poland, secured the silver medal with a dive of 262.30 meters. Livia Bregonzio from Italy and Almudena Calvo Bianco shared the podium, both winning the bronze medal by performing dives to a depth of 250 meters.
In the male Masters Category M50 M, Vladimir Amvrosov won the gold medal with a dive reaching 221 meters. Lemay Alvarez from Cuba secured the silver medal with a dive of 213.63 meters, while Aris Ioannidis from Greece won the bronze medal with a dive of 200 meters. Although there were no women competing in the M50 F category, Fayrouz El Mehdawi from Greece set a new world record with a dive of 188.30 meters while competing in the senior category.
Nacho Peral from Spain emerged as the World Champion in the M55 M category for men, securing the gold medal with a dive of 238.80 meters. Grzegorz Mucha won the silver medal with a dive of 210.60 meters, and Marco Massi from Italy claimed the bronze medal with a dive of 195.70 meters. In the Masters category M55 F, Natasa Boscovic from Serbia won the gold medal with a dive of 177.97 meters. Birgit Wesemann from Germany secured the silver medal with a dive of 129.64 meters. Additionally, Amel Alshekl from Saudi Arabia, participating for the first time, won the bronze medal with a dive of 128.28 meters. Hans-Jürgen Lenzen from Germany emerged as the gold medalist in the Masters M60 M category, achieving a dive of 105.60 meters.
In the male juniors category, Jules Forest from France claimed the gold medal and the title of World Champion with a dive of 181.00 meters. Nida Murathan Bulut from Turkey secured the silver medal with a dive of 142.98 meters, while Muhammad Baran Iscan, also from Turkey, won the bronze medal with a dive of 118.58 meters. Sabine Manz Romero from Ecuador emerged as the gold medalist in the female junior category, achieving a dive of 150.00 meters. Adasu Ramazanoglu from Turkey won the silver medal with a dive of 140.10 meters, and Toprak Toprak, also from Turkey, claimed the bronze medal with a dive of 126.40 meters. Congratulations to all the athletes for their exceptional performances, and we eagerly anticipate the next championship!