Sayuri Kinoshita from Japan and Mandy Sumner from the United States have tied for gold in the Constant Weight No Fins (CNF) discipline at the 2015 Freediving Depth World Championships in Limassol, Cyprus.
Free2Dive Freediving School and AIDA Cyprus are hosting this year’s World Championships.
Sumner and Kinoshita both dove to 58 meters/190 feet, and the accomplishment marks the first time the USA has won a gold medal at a Freediving Depth World Championship.
“I only began trying Constant No Fins five months ago,” Sumner said. “The conditions were perfect today, just like Hawaii. I am a bit tired, but this is my personal best so it is to be expected. I want to congratulate my fellow winner Sayuri of Japan for her strong dive as well.”
As for Kinoshita, she said: “I am very happy I made my 58m CNF dive. While the depth itself was not so daunting for me, I got really tired because I swam all the way down, I even passed the plate a little, and had to swim very hard all the way up because of the poor conditions. I am very grateful for the wonderful support of everyone around me – thank you!”
Mexican freediver Estrella Navarro (third place — 50 meters), German freediver Jennifer Wedland (fourth place — 46 meters) and Hanako Hirose from Japan (42 meters) rounded out the top five female CNF places.
On the men’s CNF side, Alexey Molchanov of Russia came in first place with an 85-meter dive. Polish freediver Mateusz Malina and Spanish freediver Miguel Lozano tied for second place with dives to 76 meters. Lozano had the added thrill of setting a Spanish national record. Stig Pryds of Denmark recorded a 75-meter dive for fourth place, and Croatian Goran Colak‘s 71-meter dive rounded out the top five.
Keep your eyes peeled to DeeperBlue.com for more information from the World Championships.
