AIDA is heading to the home of the haenyeo — female freedivers who have been harvesting mollusks and other sea life since the 18th century — for the 30th AIDA Pool World Championship next week.
The competition will welcome nearly 200 freedivers from more than 30 countries to Jeju Island in South Korea from June 10-17, 2023 and feature competition, live training sessions and more.
It will be the first AIDA world championship in this part of the world, where freediving’s popularity is growing rapidly.
During the world championship, athletes will compete in one or more of the four freediving pool disciplines:
- Static (STA): the freediver holds their breath for as long as possible with their airways submerged underwater. This discipline boasts the longest-standing unbeaten records, with 14 years for the men and 10 years for the women.
Current Men’s World Record: 11:35 minutes – Stéphane Mifsud (France)
Current Women’s World Record: 9:02 minutes – Natalia Molchanva (Russia) - Dynamic With Fins (DYN): the freediver swims underwater while holding their breath for the longest possible distance with the assistance of fins/monofin.
Current Men’s World Record: 301m/987.5ft – Guillaume Bourdila (France)
Current Women’s World Record: 277m/909ft – Magdalena Solich-Talanda (Poland) - Dynamic With Bifins (DYNB): the freediver swims underwater while holding their breath for the longest possible distance with the assistance of bifins. It is the newest freediving discipline, added to the line-up in 2018.
Current Men’s World Record: 290m/951.4ft – Mateusz Malina (Poland)
Current Women’s World Record: 243m/797ft – Magdalena Solich-Talanda (Poland) - Dynamic No Fins (DNF): the freediver swims underwater while holding their breath for the longest possible distance without the assistance of propulsion aids, making it the most demanding of the pool freediving disciplines.
Current Men’s World Record: 250m/820ft – Mateusz Malina (Poland)
Current Women’s World Record: 209m/685.7ft – Julia Kozerska (Poland)
The competition will be live-streamed on AIDA’s YouTube Channel starting on June 12, 2023.
The complete schedule of events, start lists and results can be found on the official AIDA Pool World Championship Jeju 2023 website.
