๐ก๐ฒ๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐ช๐ผ๐ฟ๐น๐ฑ ๐ฅ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ฑ ๐ถ๐ป ๐๐๐ ๐ฏ๐ ๐ ๐ฎ๐๐ฒ๐๐๐ ๐ ๐ฎ๐น๐ถ๐ป๐ฎ
August 12, 2022
๐ก๐ฒ๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐ช๐ผ๐ฟ๐น๐ฑ ๐ฅ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ฑ ๐ถ๐ป ๐๐๐ ๐ฏ๐ ๐ ๐ฎ๐๐ฒ๐๐๐ ๐ ๐ฎ๐น๐ถ๐ป๐ฎ
On August 11th, the last day of Vertical Blue 2022, ๐ ๐ฎ๐๐ฒ๐๐๐ ๐ ๐ฎ๐น๐ถ๐ป๐ฎ (๐ฃ๐ข๐) dived to 127m (417ft) by pulling himself down and up the dive line. It is a new AIDA World Record in FIM and an absolute world record.
It is 2m (7ft) deeper than the previous AIDA World Record in FIM set by ๐๐น๐ฒ๐ ๐ฒ๐ ๐ ๐ผ๐น๐ฐ๐ต๐ฎ๐ป๐ผ๐ (๐ฅ๐จ๐ฆ) at Vertical Blue 2018 and also 1m (3ft) deeper than the current CMAS World Record in this discipline also set by Alexey Molchanov at Vertical Blue 2021. This means that Mateusz became the first man in the world who ever dived to this depth. Congratulations, Mateusz!
๐ ๐ฎ๐๐ฒ๐๐๐’๐ ๐ฐ๐ผ๐น๐น๐ฒ๐ฐ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป ๐ผ๐ณ ๐บ๐ฒ๐ฑ๐ฎ๐น๐
Perhaps most of you know already that Mateusz is an absolute world record holder in all dynamic disciplines in the pool. However, now Mateusz is an experienced and decorated depth freediver as well.
Mateusz is most successful in CNF and FIM disciplines. In 2010, he reached the 100m (328ft) mark for the first time at an official competition (Triple Depth in Sharm-el-Sheikh). For two days in a row, he dived to 100m of depth in both the FIM and CWT disciplines.
The following year, Mateusz became Vice-champion in FIM at the AIDA World Championship diving to 106m (348ft) of depth. Then, at Vertical Blue 2014, Mateusz announced 118m (387ft) of depth in FIM, which was just 3m (10ft) shallower than the AIDA World Record at that time. However, he made an early turn at 114m (374ft) of depth. At the 2015 AIDA World Championship, Mateusz became Vice-champion in CNF (reaching a depth of 76m/249ft) and won a bronze medal in FIM (reaching a depth of 103m/338ft). In 2018, the athlete won his first gold medal at the CMAS Freediving Outdoor World Championship in CNF, diving without fins to 78m/256ft of depth.
This means that in Mateusz’s collection of depth freediving achievements, there are medals and titles of all kinds except one – a world record.
๐ก๐ผ๐ ๐ฎ๐ป ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐๐ ๐ฟ๐ผ๐ฎ๐ฑ ๐๐ผ ๐๐ฟ๐ฎ๐๐ฒ๐น
The way to the world record wasn’t an easy one. Mateusz tried to dive to 127m (417ft) of depth in FIM on the seventh competition day. However, the athlete turned back at 113m (371ft) – one of the reasons for that may be the judge’s mistake during the countdown. Nevertheless, Mateusz found enough strength to repeat the dive at this depth on the last competition day. This time, everything went smoothly and the athlete got a white card and an absolute World Record in his collection!
๐ง๐ต๐ฒ ๐ณ๐ถ๐ฟ๐๐ ๐ฎ๐ณ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ ๐ก๐ถ๐๐๐ฐ๐ต
Right now, Mateusz is an 8x World Record Holder with 3 current absolute world records in pool (DYN: 321.43m/1,053ft according to CMAS rules; DYNB: 290m/951ft according to AIDA rules; DNF: 250m/820ft according to AIDA rules), and one current absolute world record in depth freediving (FIM: 127m/417ft according to AIDA rules).
The only man in freediving history who ever had valid absolute world records in pool and depth disciplines at the same time was legendary Herbert Nitsch. Today, Mateusz became a living legend himself. Once again, congratulations, Mateusz !
Copy right for molchanovs
Photos by Daan Verhoeven