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Frozen Lake Baikal (archive image)
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The Russian apnea diver Alexej Moltschanow has embarked on a new adventure: The 14-time world champion dived through a hole in the ice of Lake Baikal into the three degrees Celsius cold water and after several minutes he reappeared smiling at the same place.
Accompanied by a cameraman and connected to a rope via a guide line, Moltschanow swam 80 meters into the depth without oxygen.
Now he hopes to be able to confirm his excursion as the deepest dive under ice and to have it entered as a record.
Lake Baikal itself holds a number of records: At 1,642 meters, it is the deepest and, at 25 million years, also the oldest and most abundant freshwater lake on earth.
In winter it freezes over regularly so that cars and transport vehicles can drive from one bank to the other over the ice.
Moltschanow wants his latest sporting achievement to be understood as a contribution to environmental protection.
“I want to dedicate my record to this wonderful place.
Lake Baikal is a unique natural phenomenon and an important living organism that must be preserved for future generations, «said the 34-year-old.
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Evening mood on Lake Baikal in Siberia
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"For me, freediving is not just a job or a hobby, it's a life's work," continued Molchanov.
Daily basic training alone changes a lot in a person's life.
Through apnea diving one can learn "to come to terms with one's own psychological states, to relax if need be, and not to be influenced by external stress factors".
According to his own statements, Moltschanow set a diving world record for the 20th time with his current campaign.
The first record of the son of the former world-class freediver Natalija Moltschanowa, who disappeared off the Spanish coast since a dive in 2015 and has since been declared dead, dates back to 2001.
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