World’s Best Free Diver Feared Dead

Russian free diver Natalia Molchanova, “widely regarded as the greatest free diver in history” according to the New York Times, is feared dead after she failed to emerge from a recreational dive on Sunday. Molchanova’s son, Alexey, says his mother did not reemerge after diving to about 115 feet in the Balearic Sea near Spain. She was not wearing fins and did not use a line to tether herself in case of emergency. She had previously set a record for that type of dive when she swam 233 feet underwater in a single breath in May in Dahab, Egypt. “The world has lost its greatest free diver,” said Will Trubridge, another record-holding free diver. “I don’t think anybody would dispute that.”