Polish freediver Mateusz Malina has set a new CMAS world record in the Dynamic No Fins (DNF) pool discipline with a 238m breath-hold swim. It came on the first day of the CMAS World Cup Indoor Series, held at Lodz in Malina’s home country from 2-4 May.
Dynamic Apnea is horizontal swimming of pool lengths on a single breath, and can be performed without fins, with bi-fins or a monofin.
“DNF is my favourite pool discipline and I’m extremely happy to reclaim the world record in the 50m pool after five years of hard training, numerous tries, failures and to be able to finally overcome it,” said Malina.
“I’m looking forward to the World Championships in Belgrade this year and to hopefully to representing Poland at the World Games next year.”
The Polish series was a World Games qualifying event, with the best CMAS freedivers to be selected from that and its Indoor World Championships to compete among athletes from 36 other disciplines in Chengdu, China in 2025.
A distance of 238m might have been enough to break the CMAS world record but, under the rules of freediving’s other governing body AIDA, Malina has held the DNF world since 2014, working up to a distance of 250m by 2022.
He also holds the AIDA Dynamic Bi-Fins (DYNB) world record of 290m, set the same year, as well as a number of national and continental freediving depth records.
RAID adds Dynamic to Static
Meanwhile training agency Dive RAID International has followed its recent announcement of a Static Apnea speciality course with its inevitable freediving counterpart – Dynamic Apnea.
RAID says that its new training programme can help enhance breath-holding capacity, increase lung efficiency and improve overall performance in all water-based activities, including scuba diving.
The RAID Dynamic Apnea speciality focuses on both the DNF and DYNB disciplines, says the agency, and is designed to provide freedivers with all the knowledge and skills needed to excel.
They are taught techniques that includes buoyancy control, streamlining and finning and to observe safety considerations, such as recognising signs of hypoxia and performing rescues.
The course is also said to emphasise the importance of the buddy system for supervision and support, as well as relaxation and mental focus to improve performances. Dynamic Apnea techniques need to be practised under the guidance of experienced instructors to ensure safety and approved technique.
Details of the new course are available from RAID centres.
Also on Divernet: Poles apart at freediving championships, Freedivers break 7 world pool records, World & GB freedive records set in Bahamas, Face-down: the latest RAID freediving course
