A GAME OF THRONES: Part One

The queen

After the disappearance of Natalia Molchanova in August of 2015, women’s freediving will never look the same again. She was, without a doubt, the Queen of Freediving, with a total of 41 WR's and 23 Gold medals across ALL competitive disciplines, AND the only woman to officially dive below 100m under her own power. It is unlikely that we will ever see another athlete like her, and hard to imagine anyone will replicate her level of success.

Natalia was a fierce competitor. With one of the strongest minds in the sport, she knew how to tune-out external stimuli and get the job done, in even the most trying of circumstances. With her tendency to 'dangle the carrot', leaving her records just within reach for the other top females to strive for and then only seconds, days or weeks later reclaiming that record, it was said that nobody ever truly claimed Natalia's records; they were only ever out on loan.

But now with the Queen gone, a new wave of female competitors is emerging, jostling for poll position and a chance to stake their claim at the top. Without having to look over their shoulder for Natalia, will one of them emerge as the new Queen of women's freediving?

I'm going to profile some of the leading candidates to be front-runners for the title of the ‘World’s deepest woman'.
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​And in no particular order, here are the first five....​

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the cONTENDERs 

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JEANINE GRASMEIJER, 22 YEARS,
​NETHERLANDS

Jeanine Grasmeijer broke onto the international freediving scene in emphatic fashion with a World record in 2013, in only her second year of freediving. She was the last athlete to break one of Natalia's depth records, with a FIM dive to 90m.
In 2014 she was absent from the competitive scene, focusing instead on her studies as a medical student. She returned last year, claiming the Gold for FIM at the World Champs, and then going on to become the Overall Winner of the inaugural 'Big Blue' competition in Mexico.
Having reportedly gone deeper than the current FIM record in training, will this be the year that she claims back her title as the deepest rope-pulling female of all time? And will she go on to claim more glory in the other disciplines and the most prestigious events?

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 SOFIA GOMEZ URIBE, 23 YEARS OLD
​COLOMBIA

The sweetheart of South American freediving, Sofia Gomez Uribe was a big mover on the international scene in 2015. Already having made her mark in the pool with a Pan-American record of 195m DYN, she turned her attention to depth, collecting all Continental Records and a multitude of medals. These included a silver medal in CNF at Vertical Blue and a second place overall at Big Blue, narrowly beaten by Jeanine on the final day.
​What does 2016 have in store for her? Well considering that she took her noodle all the way down to 81m on her last CWT dive at Big Blue, it's safe to say that this mighty-mouse has plenty more in the tank! A very good all-round diver, she placed in the top five of all depth disciplines last year. Let’s see how far she can continue her climb up the world ranking ladder.


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SAYURI KINOSHITA, 26 YEARS OLD
JAPAN

A protégée of Japanese legend Ryuzo Shinomya. After collecting multiple National records and medals at VB 2014, her very first event, she returned in 2015 to collect overall first place. She didn't stop there though, she went on to collect medals at the world champs in both CNF (Gold) and CWT(Silver).
Heading into the VB 2016 edition, she would have to be one of the favourites in the women's class.
An air of invincibility has surrounded this little Samurai and her progress has been nothing short of extraordinary, inside of two years she has progressed to 88m CWT! However in her last competition dive of the year she suffered her first red card in competition, letting everyone know that she is in fact only human. The mark of a true champion is how one bounces back from adversity, I'm looking forward to Sayuri showing the world what she is made of!

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ALESSIA ZECCHINI, 23 YEARS OLD
​ITALY

Relatively unheard of within AIDA circles, this young Italian is quite possibly (and unofficially) – at the time of writing - the deepest woman in the world! It was reputed that she had eclipsed Natalia's CWT record towards the end of last year with a training dive to 103m!​ Alessia is the current CMAS World Champion, and record holder in three depth disciplines including Jump blue, CNF and CWT.
​At only 23 years of age, she is definitely one to watch for the future. If Natalia is anything to go by, Alessia could be in the sport for another three decades or more. So will 2016 be the year of Alessia? And will the CMAS record finally eclipse that of the AIDA record? Only time will tell!

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ASHLEY FUTRAL-CHAPMAN, 31 YEARS OLD
​USA

Ashley Futral Chapman, for those of you who don't already know is a three-time World record holder. In 2012 she broke the No-fins record three times with dives to 63m, 65m and 67m respectively. ​Exchanging records with Natalia and pushing Czech diver Alena Zabloudilova right to the edge in a thrilling series of dives at VB 2012, there is no doubt that this North Carolinian is the greatest female American freediver to date.
But with life changing paths for Ashley in 2013 with the birth of her daughter Ani, freediving had to take the backseat for a while. She has still managed to stay active though, with victory at last years Caribbean Cup, and with next-to-no time for preparation, an overall third place at Big Blue. Should Ashley find time to train and compete this year she is definitely a force to be reckoned with!

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So, who will make the last  five?! And who do you think the leading candidate is?! Stay tuned for more DEEP insights as to who will become the next Queen of the deep! 

Like my page to find out the results and to be sure to find out who our next five are! Feel free to comment below!
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