Nataliya Molchanova

Natalia Molchanova is called the queen of freediving - a type of scuba diving in which the athlete relies only on the lungs. For 10 years in sports, the Russian woman has set more than 40 world records. She could not breathe under water for more than 9 minutes, descended to a depth of 100 meters, became the first woman to overcome the Blue Hole in Egypt in one breath. Natalia Molchanova adored depth and water. The element reciprocated and therefore one day did not return the diver to the surface.

Natalya Vadimovna Molchanova was born on May 8, 1962 in Ufa, USSR. She was brought up with her older sister Rina.

Sport entered the life of the queen of freediving early. Until the 3rd grade, she was engaged in figure skating, and then switched to swimming. After school, having firmly decided to devote herself to an active lifestyle, Natalya Molchanova entered the Volgograd State Academy of Physical Culture. Here she first became interested in depth.

By the age of 20, the Russian woman became a master of sports in underwater sports. From training to training, she became more powerful, crushed opponents in competitions, but, having met her future husband, she left the sport. This decision came as a complete surprise to Natalia Molchanova's parents and coaches, but she thought she was doing the right thing.

Natalia Molchanova's husband, Oleg, is also an athlete. The young people met at a swimming competition when the queen of freediving was in her 5th year. In her youth, it seemed to her to make the right choice in favor of the family, so she left the sport when her husband wanted children.

In 1985, the girl Oksana was born, in 1987 - the boy Alexei. Natalya Molchanova plunged headlong into motherhood, like into stormy waters - she arranged the children in the best school, took them to various circles and sections, every summer she rode with them on the sea. Oleg, on the other hand, kept aloof from such a desired offspring, and in the 1990s he drunkenly engaged in "business".

Personal life went wrong, and Natalya Molchanova was not particularly surprised to learn about her husband's mistress. In 1998, their marriage was dissolved.

All that was left to Natalya Molchanova after the departure of her husband was the children and the salary of a swimming coach, equal to the subsistence level. She barely made ends meet, but she categorically rejected help from relatives.

To feed Oksana and Alexei, the woman got a second job. Eternal stress, lack of sleep, neurosis brought Natalia Molchanova into a 3-year depression. It is not known how life would have turned out if she had not come across material about freediving in a magazine.

Natalya Molchanova remembered what it was like to feel freedom on the waves, to succumb to the current, to stall under the water column and eagerly float to the surface. For the first time since the divorce, she, 39, felt happy.

By that time, Alexei, having adopted his mother's love for swimming (now he is an experienced freediver, a multiple record holder), entered the Olympic reserve school in St. Petersburg, and Oksana was admitted to a Moscow university. Natalya Molchanova decided to spend her free time with benefit. She found out the phone number of Julia Petrik, one of the first freedivers in Russia, and went to her for a 10-day course in Egypt.

By the end of the course, Natalya Molchanova could dive to a depth of 40 meters - this is more than a 10-storey building. Julia Petrik was amazed by this result, so she recommended the student to seriously think about freediving. The Russian woman moved to Moscow without hesitation to start a new life.

Natalia Molchanova began to set records from her first performances on professional venues. In 2003, at the Moscow Open Cup in scuba diving, she became the best in Russia in holding her breath (5 minutes 39 seconds) and the duration of the distance per breath (142 meters). The queen of freediving improved the last indicator in a month - she swam 150 meters, repeating the world record.

It is noteworthy that Natalya Molchanova learned the technique of breathing and diving herself: foreign experts-freedivers refused to help the Russian woman, fearing her potential. I had to train on my own, watching the behavior of my opponents during the competition.

So, Natalia Molchanova once noticed that before diving, all athletes seem to fall into a coma: their brain turns off, and breathing becomes deep, like in a dream. Then the Russian woman began to practice pranayama.

Natalya Molchanova took notes of her training complex, and when it turned out that all the methods were effective, she began to record training videos for novice freedivers. The Russian woman has also cited unwritten truths of scuba diving in numerous interviews. One of the main rules, she said, is “relax, move slowly, you have to interact with water, not conquer the elements”.

For 13 years in sports, Natalya Molchanova set 41 world records and became world champion 22 times. These achievements have been recognized in all countries where scuba diving is popular. No one dared to infringe on her title of queen of freediving. No woman in the world has such a collection of awards.

One of the most striking achievements of Natalia Molchanova is the conquest of the Blue Hole in Egypt. This vertical arch is also called the Divers' Cemetery - on the way to it there are hundreds of plaques with the names of the lost brave souls.

Natalya Molchanova and her son Alexey became the first Russians who did not stay at the Divers' Cemetery. This is because the family was preparing for the dive: they dived into the arch several times, getting used to the atmosphere. On day X, a safety net with scuba diving swam next to them, and freedivers met at the exit from the Blue Hole.

It took Natalia and Alexei Molchanovs about three minutes to conquer the Divers' Cemetery. They sank to a depth of 70 meters, saw dark gray reefs, shrouded in blue light, for which the area got its name, and all this with a single breath.

In the photos taken after diving out of the Blue Hole, Natalya Molchanova looks incredibly happy. Every time she rose from the depths, a bright smile lit up her face.

On August 2, 2015, an athlete in the company of three like-minded people dived near Ibiza, in Spain. It was not a competition or even a training session, the freedivers were having fun, enjoying the sea and the depth.

While the friends were recovering, Natalya Molchanova decided to dive again. The top of the diver's head, 60 meters from the expected ascent point, is the last thing that her attendants saw. Then the woman was swallowed up by the elements again, this time forever.

Her son Alexei calls the death of Natalia Molchanova a tragic coincidence. He says that if he was nearby, there would be no casualties: “completely inexperienced freedivers” went to Spain with a diver.

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The cause of death of Natalia Molchanova, most likely, was hypoxia and subsequent loss of consciousness. 10 meters before surfacing, divers experience a colossal pressure drop, and the oxygen content in the brain is at a minimum. Even experienced freedivers can faint. Therefore, they are insured on the rise. Nobody insured Natalia Molchanova.

In addition, the water area in which the tragedy occurred is famous for its rough surface and underwater currents. Therefore, it cannot be ruled out that Natalya Molchanova acted like a true professional, but failed to overcome the flows.

The family was unable to bury the freediving queen: she was never found dead. The body was searched for 2 days. On August 4, 2015, Natalya Molchanova was declared dead.

2004, 2005 (3), 2006 (2) - Champion of Russia in various disciplines of freediving 2005 (4), 2006, 2007 (3), 2008, 2009 (5), 2010, 2011 (2), 2013 (6) - Champion world records in various freediving disciplines 2005 - World record in the discipline "Constant weight" with an indicator of 101 meters 2012 - World records in the discipline "Variable weight" with an indicator of 127 meters, respectively 2013 - World records in the disciplines "Static apnea" and "Dynamics without fins" with indicators of 9 minutes 2 seconds and 182 meters, respectively 2014 - World records in the disciplines "Constant weight without fins" and "Dynamics in fins" with indicators of 70 meters and 237 meters, respectively

Nataliya Molchanova 's estimated Net Worth, Salary, Income, Cars, Lifestyles & many more details have been updated below.

Let's check, How Rich is Nataliya Molchanova in 2020?

Nataliya Molchanova Net Worth 2021

Nataliya Molchanova 's revenue is $1M in 2021. It is an approximate forecast of how rich is Nataliya Molchanova and could vary in the range between $549K - $1.9M.

Nataliya Molchanova Net Worth 2020

Nataliya Molchanova 's revenue is $1.9M in 2020. It is an approximate forecast of how rich is Nataliya Molchanova and could vary in the range between $522.3K - $1.7M.

Nataliya Molchanova Net Worth 2019

Nataliya Molchanova 's revenue is $1.6M in 2019. It is an approximate forecast of how rich is Nataliya Molchanova and could vary in the range between $507.5K - $2M.

Nataliya Molchanova Net Worth 2018

Nataliya Molchanova 's revenue is $1.1M in 2018. It is an approximate forecast of how rich is Nataliya Molchanova and could vary in the range between $766.3K - $1.7M.

Nataliya Molchanova Net Worth 2017

Nataliya Molchanova 's revenue is $1.7M in 2017. It is an approximate forecast of how rich is Nataliya Molchanova and could vary in the range between $615.1K - $1.3M.

Nataliya Molchanova Net Worth 2016

Nataliya Molchanova 's revenue is $2M in 2016. It is an approximate forecast of how rich is Nataliya Molchanova and could vary in the range between $504.6K - $1.7M.

Nataliya Molchanova Net Worth 2015

Nataliya Molchanova 's revenue is $1.7M in 2015. It is an approximate forecast of how rich is Nataliya Molchanova and could vary in the range between $786.8K - $2M.

It is an overall forecast for the net worth of Nataliya Molchanova. The evaluation covers the latest 5 years and an approximation for next year. See above to learn how much money does Nataliya Molchanova makes a year.

The range above shows an estimation based on evaluation generated by public information about sponsorships or other sources found on the internet. It's summarized data from Nataliya Molchanova's projects existing in AidWiki's repository. It's an approximation of the revenue compiled by AidWiki and may not correspond with the real amount.