Almost Time for the 30th AIDA World Championship!

30th AIDA World Championship!

The International Association for the Development of Apnea (AIDA) is heading to the home of the haenyeo – female divers who have been free diving harvesting mollusks and other sea life since the 18th century – for the 30th AIDA World Championship. The competition will welcome nearly 200 freedivers from more than 30 countries to Jeju Island in South Korea from 10-17 June 2023 and feature friendly 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 freedivers hold 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 Molchanοva (Russia)
Dynamic With Fins (DYN): the freedivers swim underwater while holding their breath for the longest possible distance with the assistance of fins/monofin.
    Current Men's World Record: 301 m – Guillaume Bourdila (France)
    Current Women's World Record: 277 m – Magdalena Solich-Talanda (Poland)
Dynamic With Bifins (DYNB): the freedivers swim 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: 290 m – Mateusz Malina (Poland)
    Current Women's World Record: 243 m - Magdalena Solich-Talanda (Poland)
Dynamic No Fins (DNF): the freedivers swim 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: 250 m - Mateusz Malina (Poland)
    Current Women's World Record: 209 m – Julia Kozerska (Poland)

The featured sponsors at this year’s world championship are Double K, ATMOS, Deep Station, Octopus and Diveroid.

The competition will be streamed live on AIDA’s YouTube Channel starting 12 June 2023. The complete schedule of events, start lists, and results can be found on the official AIDA Pool World Championship Jeju 2023 website.

Find the complete list of AIDA Official World Records here.
Find video replays of past AIDA World Championships here.

AIDA & Double K Continue Long-Time Partnership

AIDA is pleased to announce its continued partnership with Double K, a South Korean freediving equipment manufacturer, as the Main Partner for both the AIDA Pool World Championship Jeju 2023 and the AIDA Depth World Championship Limassol 2023.

Double K is South Korea’s first freediving brand and specializes in suits, fins, bags and more. The suits are made from an exclusive supply of Yamamoto neoprene and share 11 patents, 14 design registrations and 7 trademarks.

In addition to developing and manufacturing top-quality freediving gear, Double K also seeks to make freediving easy and familiar to everyone by providing education through instructor training and seminars, as well as hosting indoor and marine competitions.

This year, Double K will be gifting vouchers to the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place athletes in each discipline at both world championships. They will also be producing exclusive AIDA World Championship gear available for sale only at the competition in Jeju.

To celebrate this partnership and the upcoming 30th AIDA World Championship, all Double K products on their website are 20% off until 30 June 2023.

Additional information about Double K can be found on their website: www.divingkk.net.

About AIDA

Created in 1992, the International Association for the Development of Apnea (AIDA) is an international freediving federation based in Switzerland. AIDA is dedicated to the development of freediving through both competition and education, and is the federation of all freediving nations, bringing together over 50 countries. AIDA has officiated over 30 freediving World Championships and more than 300 freediving world records.

Text & Photo Credits: AIDA – International Association for the Development of Apnea