MISUZU OKAMOTO, 
JAPAN

The deepest woman in AIDA last year, Misuzu Okamoto is officially the third deepest woman of all time. With victories at the World Champs in Cypress and at Vertical blue for her specialist discipline of Constant weight, will she continue her domination in 2016?!
In the times I have seen her dive, as a safety diver or spectator, I have never once seen her come up on edge. Her progress appears only to be slowed by equalisation, but she has, consistently, been improving year by year, if only one metre at a time.
With a current personal best of 93m, with a small break through in equalisation, she could, realistically, be the next woman to 100m. With Vertical Blue 2016 only a few months away, Misuzu is sure to be undergoing preparation. We look forward to seeing Misuzu arriving in top form and continuing her pursuit into the blue abyss.

ALENA KONEČNÁ(FORMERLY ZABLOUDILOVA), 31
​CZECH REPUBLIC

In 2011 and 2012, there was one female freediver who emerged who looked as if she could challenge Natalia for the top spot of the sport(at least in the ocean). A former Czech National swimmer, Alena Konečná burst onto the depth scene at the 2011 Kalamata depth World Champs. She picked up gold in the CNF and silver in the FIM. The following year, she was the deepest female diver at Triple Depth(and in fact the second deepest athlete overall in the entire competition) and again at Vertical Blue. The overall results that she posted at the 2012 Vertical Blue still stand as the best female results since the competition was opened up that year. And when you look at the total points for depth(accumulative of the three disciplines), only Natalia stands above her. When it looked like 2014 would be the year she would challenge for the dominance, like Ashley Chapman, life took a turn. Now the mother of a beautiful daughter, Ali has been hinting at a return. Within 2 weeks of training last year in Egypt, she quickly returned to 86m. One can only wonder what she can achieve with a full year of training under her belt!

MARIANNA KRUPNITSKAYA, 25 YEARS OLD
​RUSSIA

Marianna Krupnitskaya, notably was absent from the Depth World Championships last year. After her victory and performances at VB 2014, she looked poised to continue her progress up the all time rankings and be a major player in Cyprus.
At Vertical Blue, the worlds most prestigious freediving event, she ranked either first or second in all three disciplines and won overall in dominant fashion. Her deepest dive on record is to 86m CWT, a dive which she did with relative ease.
With Marianna making her return at VB 2016, the competition is set to really heat up, with Marianna, last years champion Sayuri, Jeanine and Sofia all vying for the title. This Vertical Blue promises to be the most exciting yet!

ANNELIE POMPE, 34 YEARS OLD
​SWEDEN

Annelie Pompe is quite probably, the Worlds DEEPEST and HIGHEST athlete on the planet! Aside from being a former freediving World record holder(126mVWT), she has also conquered the highest mountain on earth, Everest.
In 2014 she attempted to claim the Constant weight World record with a dive to 102m. Whilst she was successful in making it all the way down, she didn't quite make it all the way back to the surface. It is reported that in training, she has been, quite comfortably to within only a couple of meters from the current record still held by Natalia(101m).
So the question is, will Annelie return to the competition forefront this year and will she have another crack at the World record?!

NATALIIA ZHARKOVA, 
​UKRAINE

Nataliia, like Alena, is a former National level swimmer. She too made her depth debut back in 2011 and has been making strong, consistent progress ever since. At the 2013 Depth World champs, overall only Natalia Molchanova topped her, as she picked up two silvers and a bronze.
Last year she was rumoured to have been below 90m in constant weight, and there are only three woman ranking above her on the all time list for no-fins.
So, with such a well rounded game, will 2016 be a year that Nataliia continues her progress, onwards and deeper into the blue abyss and stakes her claim to the crown?!

I have now profiled ten athletes who I feel, have a chance of cementing their place at the top of the sport. Will ONE emerge?! Will it be more than a one horse race?! Or will it be someone else completely?!
Writing this article has not been an easy task. There are more than a few women that deserve mention that could easily have been on this list. These include(but are not limited to) multiple world record holder Sara Campbell(who may have retired from actively competing, having been absent since 2011), Japans Tomoka Fukuda(a crowd favourite and perrennial achiever) and Slovakia's Katie Linczényiová(Third place at VB 2015 and another up and coming athlete). All have achieved incredible results in the past(all three have made dives to 90m or more!) and I hope that 2016 will be a great year for them!
​If you think I have missed someone, HAVE YOUR SAY in the comments section below! 

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?

 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.


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!

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!

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!