CMAS World Freediving Indoor Championship 2024
The CMAS 14th World Freediving Indoor Championship was held once again in beautiful Belgrade hosted by the Serbian Underwater Federation and its very experienced president Mrs Bozana Ostojic, who had very successfully hosted several world events before, including 5 World Championships.
This year however, the championship was even more special as it served as qualification event for athletes willing to participate at the XII World Games in 2025. Freediving will be for the first-time part of this prestigious event with two disciplines, DNF and DYN, which have been selected to be included in the XII World Games that will take place in Chengdu, China in 2025.
The Championship saw a record of participation from 44 countries, with a total of 254 athletes showcasing their exceptional talent and breaking several world records in the process.
Day 1: Dynamic No Fins
On July 6th, the first discipline for this championship, was DNF (dynamic no fins) which is considered the most technical and difficult discipline in pool freediving. The athletes have to swim for a distance underwater on one breath using only their arms and legs without the help of any fins. Many consider this discipline, to be the most natural and purest form of freediving. Athletes were divided in junior, senior and master categories and were all diving according to their previous best performances.
In the female senior category, World Champion is once again Yulia Kozerska from Poland setting a New World Record of 211,50m, followed very closely by Croatian Mirela Kardasevic who won the silver medal with 209m. Magdalena Solich-Talanda, also from Poland, finished 3rd, winning the bronze medal with a dive of 198,50m.
In the male senior category, Mateusz Malina from Poland won the gold medal and defended his World Champion title with 229,50m, followed by two athletes who won the silver medal, Vanja Pelez from Croatia and Kai-Hsiang Chan from Chinese Taipei who are both Vice-World Champions with 216,5m.
Day 2: Dynamic with BiFins
July 7th, was the day of DYN-BF (dynamic with Bifins), which is the most popular discipline of all, with the highest number of athletes competing.
In the female senior category, World Champion this year is once again Magdalena Solich-Talanda from Poland who won the gold medal with a performance of 262,50m, followed by Mirela Kardasevic from Croatia who is Vice Champion and winner of the silver medal with her dive to 260,00m. Bronze went to Livia Bregonzio from Italy with a 248,50m dive, also a World Record in the Masters M1 category.
In the male senior category, Mateuzs Malina from Poland won gold and is the New World Champion with a dive to 285,50m. Silver went to Mauro Generali also from Italy who performed a 275,50m dive, while third place and the bronze medal went to Guillaume Bourdila of France with his dive to 274,50m.
Day 3: Static Apnea
On Day 3 of this World Championship, July 8th, the day started with the discipline of static apnea in which athletes are required to hold their breath underwater for as long as possible while remaining still, face down in the water.
In the female senior category, World Champion is Heike Schwerdtner from Germany who won the gold medal with a performance of 08:51.03. Silver medal went to Yuriko Ichihara from Japan for her 07:28.11 and in the third place is Natalia Domashenko from Serbia with 07:01.60.
In the male senior category, Vladimir Pogrebenko (Cmas1) won the gold medal and World Champion title with a performance of 08:58.95, followed by Aleksandr Maksimov (Cmas1) who won the silver medal for his time of 08:54.45. Third place and bronze medal went to Garikoitz Urkola from Spain with a time of 08:22.23.
Day 4: DYN - Dynamic with Fin
July 9th, was the last day of the world championship and the competition closed with the discipline of DYN (dynamic with monofin) with some amazing performances and impressive New World Records. The athletes competing in this discipline were also looking to qualify for the XII World Games in Chengdu China 2025 where two freediving disciplines will be included for the first time.
In the female senior category, the World Champion with an impressive New World Record is Mirela Kardasevic from Croatia who won the gold medal with a performance of 282,00m, followed by Julia Kozerska, winner of the silver medal with her dive to 277,00m. In third place winning the bronze medal is Livia Bregonzio from Italy also with a New World Record for the M1 Masters category with an amazing performance of 263,50m dive.
In the male senior category, Guillaume Bourdila of France won the gold medal and is the New World Champion with a dive to 300,00m. Second place and silver medal for Goran Colak from Croatia who performed a 286,50m dive, and third place and bronze medal went to Ming Ying from China with his dive to 284,50m.
Speed apnea disciplines also kept the interest of many athletes and mulitple records were set during the champiosnhip.
The first day of competition has seen a new world record in the 8x50 discipline in senior male category with Mikhail Drozdov (Cmas1) establishing a new reference time of 3:25.10. The podium is completed with Denis Arshanov (Cmas1), silver medal with a time of 03:32.43 and Giuseppe Fusto from Italy at the third place with a time of 03:36.11.
The women were not to be outdone either, as a new world record was also broken by Chiara Zaffaroni from Italy with a time of 04:02.09, followed by Gaelle Brousse from France, silver medal with a time of 04:38.65. The bronze medal is awarded to Sofia Strelets (Cmas1), swimming the 8 pool lengths in 04:55.74.
On day 2, in the 2x50m speed apnea discipline, Sofia Strelets made it onto the podium for a second time, becoming world champion with a time of 00:38.02, the silver medal is attributed to Evgeniia Gazilova (Cmas1) with a time of 00:38.27 and Chiara Zaffaroni also climbed onto the podium for the second time in two days with a time of 00:40.78 and a bronze medal.
In men's category, Denis Arshanov (Cmas1) is the new world champion with a time of 00:30.74, Alexander Khudyshkin (Cmas1) secures the silver medal in 00:31.40 and Mikhail Drozdov obtains a second medal, bronze medal in 0:32.46.
The last event in speed apnea was organized durinig day 3 with the 4x50m discipline. In the women's category Chiara Zaffaroni from Italy is a second time World Champion, setting a new world record with a time of 01:33.03. The podium is completed with Gaelle Brousse from France, silver medal with a time of 01:41.47 and Evgeniia Gazilova (Cmas1), bronze medal, in 01:44.54.
In the 4x50 men's category, the podium is once again made up of the athletes who performed best on the first day: Denis Arshanov (Cmas1) is world champion with 01:19.54 setting a new world record. Mikhail Drozdov (Cmas1) takes the second place with a time of 01:19.99 and third place went to Giuseppe Fusto from Italy in 01:23.00.
The 14th CMAS Freediving World Championship in Belgrade will be remembered not only for the records broken but also for the sportsmanship and community spirit demonstrated by all involved.
The event has set a high standard for future championships and continues to elevate the profile of freediving as a premier competitive sport.
Congratulations to all athletes for their performances and we look forward to seeing you all at the next championship!
Full results in junior, senior and masters categories can be found on the CMAS drive: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1ezs4kyZdaIKPxPy4gUICEqAxjWVP63ZH
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