Croatia wins seven medals at the World Freediving Championships in Cyprus: Petar Klovar claims two golds, Sanda Delija two silvers
The Croatian national freediving team delivered one of its most successful performances at the World Apnea 2026 Championships in Limassol, Cyprus, winning seven medals: two gold and five silver. Petar Klovar contributed the most medals, becoming world champion in two depth disciplines, claiming two additional individual silver medals and finishing second in the overall men's standings. Sanda Delija added a silver medal in the no-fins discipline and second place in the overall women's standings. The final day of competition took place on October 8, 2026, while the broader championship program was scheduled from September 27 to October 10. Results published after the final dives confirm that Croatia was among the most successful participating nations in terms of medals won.
Klovar's first gold: 96 meters without fins and an advantage over Molchanov
Klovar's first title in Cyprus came on October 1 in the CNF discipline, or constant weight without fins. The Croatian national team member reached 96 meters and successfully returned to the surface, where he completed the mandatory protocol used by judges to confirm the validity of a dive. Molchanov took silver with 93 meters, while third place was shared by Omar Al Ghailani of Oman and American Brad Stephens, both reaching 75 meters. Competition results also show that Vitomir Maričić finished fifth with 74 meters, giving Croatia two representatives among the top five in this discipline. Klovar's achievement also continued his series of world titles, including previous major performances at AIDA championships.
CNF is often described as one of the most demanding freediving disciplines. Divers descend and ascend using their own body movements, without fins and without pulling on a rope, making technique, rhythm and the distribution of effort particularly important. Every additional meter of depth increases the demands placed on competitors, but a result is not valid unless the prescribed rules are fulfilled after returning to the surface. In Limassol, Klovar selected a depth below his own world record, allowing him to focus his performance on completing the dive safely and securing the title. His CNF world record stands at 103 meters, set in May 2025 in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, when he surpassed the long-standing best performance of New Zealander William Trubridge.
Second gold at 132 meters in the free immersion discipline
Klovar claimed his second world championship title on October 6 in FIM, known as free immersion. In this discipline, divers do not use fins but are permitted to pull themselves along a rope during descent and ascent. Klovar successfully completed a dive to 132 meters, while Molchanov reached 128 meters. Third place was shared by Slovakia's Martin Ruman and Omar Al Ghailani, both with 113 meters. According to a championship report published by Cyprus Mail, Klovar spent approximately three minutes and 55 seconds underwater, while Molchanov completed his slightly shallower dive in four minutes and 49 seconds.
Although the difference in time attracts attention, dive speed alone does not determine the winner: the decisive factors are the depth reached and the proper completion of the performance. Different approaches demonstrate how individual technique can be, even among competitors challenging for the same records. Before the championship, Klovar already held the FIM world record of 137 meters, set in April 2026 in the Philippines. His 132-meter dive in Limassol was therefore not a new record, but it was sufficient for a convincing championship victory. After three men's disciplines, Klovar had accumulated 348 points, just one more than Molchanov, leaving the overall title undecided until the final day.
Two individual silver medals and a dramatic championship finale
Klovar won silver in CWTB, or constant weight with bifins, with a result of 120 meters. The men's competition in this discipline took place on October 3, with Molchanov claiming gold at 126 meters. Al Ghailani finished third with 108 meters. This meant that the Croatian representative already had one gold and one silver before the FIM competition, and his medal streak continued with victory in free immersion. CWTB requires the use of separate fins and a prescribed leg-kicking technique, distinguishing it from CWT, where a monofin is also permitted.
The final men's discipline, CWT, took place on October 8 and determined the outcome of the entire competition. Molchanov dived to 137 meters, won gold and set a new AIDA world record in constant weight with fins. Klovar finished second with 125 meters, while Stephens secured bronze with a result of 115 meters. According to a Cyprus Mail report published on October 9, Molchanov concluded the championship with 484 points in the overall standings, while Klovar had 473 points, a difference of 11 points. Al Ghailani won the bronze medal in the overall men's standings with 407 points.
This conclusion demonstrated how uncertain the contest between the two leading competitors had been. Klovar achieved better results in CNF and FIM, while Molchanov performed better in CWTB and CWT. As both competed in all four disciplines, the final difference resulted from the combined total of their individual points. Klovar's five medals consist of two golds, two silvers in individual disciplines and silver in the overall standings. A particularly valuable aspect of his performance is that he reached the podium in every one of the four disciplines.
Sanda Delija takes silver without fins and finishes second overall
Sanda Delija began Croatia's medal-winning streak on September 30, the first day of competition. In the women's CNF discipline, she dived to 75 meters, set a Croatian record and claimed silver. Gold went to Hungary's Zsófia Törőcsik, who reached 78 meters, while Ukraine's Nataliia Zharkova took bronze with 68 meters. Delija's result is particularly significant because she achieved progress in a discipline in which every meter must be covered without the assistance of fins or a rope. This opening performance provided a strong foundation for her challenge for an overall medal, although several demanding appearances still lay ahead of the Croatian representative.
In the remaining disciplines, Delija did not always reach her previously announced depth, which affected her points total. In CWTB, she turned at 92 meters, while in FIM she turned at 95 meters, where a points penalty for the early turn left her just short of an individual podium finish. In the final women's CWT competition, held on October 7, she reached 96 meters and scored 90 points, enough to retain second place overall. According to the Croatian national team's report, she finished fourth twice, and on one occasion missed a medal by only about twenty centimeters. Such small margins illustrate how closely matched the leading competitors were. Despite missing out on additional individual medals, Delija successfully distributed her results across four appearances and remained ahead of most of the world's competitors.
In the final women's standings, Törőcsik finished first with 374 points, Delija second with 338 and Slovenia's Mojca Haberman third with 308. France's Jade Agboton finished fourth with 305 points, just three behind Haberman. The Hungarian champion also won the CNF title in Cyprus and set a FIM world record of 108 meters. The women's competition concluded with Zharkova's victory in CWT, where she completed a dive to 113 meters. Delija's overall silver medal was therefore the result of several days of competition involving current world record holders and winners of major international medals.
Why the overall standings carry particular importance
Unlike an individual gold medal, the overall standings at a depth championship reward competitors' ability to adapt to four different methods of diving. CNF relies on movement without fins, FIM on using the arms along a rope, CWTB on a technique involving two separate fins, while CWT allows different forms of fin propulsion. Preparation and the distribution of physical effort cannot be transferred entirely from one discipline to another, making versatility and consistency just as important as the best individual result. Points are determined by the depth achieved, with possible deductions for technical irregularities or improperly completed performances. Consequently, a competitor may achieve a deep dive but still finish below an athlete who selected a shallower depth and correctly completed the entire procedure.
Rijeka's freediving tradition and the continuity of Croatian results
Alongside Klovar and Delija, Croatia was represented in Cyprus by Vitomir Maričić, Toma Čelar and Budimir Šobat. Maričić's fifth-place finish in CNF confirms that Croatia's competitiveness did not depend exclusively on its medal winners, although Klovar and Delija accounted for the medals. Čelar and Šobat are part of the national team's core group, which has participated in international competitions for years, and their results contribute to the squad's continuity and experience. Croatia thus concluded the depth championship with seven medals in total, earned by two competitors across several different disciplines. Individual titles were won by athletes from various countries, making the concentration of Croatian medals particularly noteworthy.
An important role in this success belongs to the diving community centered around Rijeka and the Ocean Diving Club. Klovar, Maričić and Delija are associated with the club, whose work has regularly been reflected in international competition results in recent years. According to an earlier report by the Croatian news agency Hina, Maričić became the first recipient of AIDA's award for the best all-round male freediver for his results achieved in 2025, while Klovar placed second. This is an annual award covering performances in both pool and depth disciplines, rather than a ranking based solely on the current World Championships. Together with this year's seven medals, it provides a broader picture of Croatia's achievements across different forms of competitive freediving.
This continuity is also evident in previous world championships. Maričić won the overall title at the 2023 AIDA Depth World Championships, while Klovar was the overall winner in 2024 and 2025. Klovar finished second overall in Limassol this time, but claimed two new individual titles, while Delija continued her series of appearances in which she competes against the world's leading female athletes. The Rijeka diving community is also connected to international competitors: Törőcsik trained at the Ocean club, and according to the Croatian national team's report, all three medal winners in the overall women's standings, including Slovenia's Haberman, have connections with its work. International cooperation, regular competition against strong opponents and the exchange of knowledge are important elements in the development of this sport.
How far is Klovar from holding four world records?
Following the competition in Cyprus, a particularly interesting question concerns Klovar's potential across all four depth disciplines. He has already set world records of 103 meters in CNF and 137 meters in FIM, and in April 2026 he also held the CWTB record of 128 meters. Molchanov raised that latter mark to 129 meters in July, while on October 8 he increased the CWT record to 137 meters. Klovar achieved 125 meters in the final CWT competition at the World Championships, making it clear that simply continuing his current medal-winning streak would not be enough to unite all four records. Such an objective would require new, even deeper valid dives in disciplines where the best results currently belong to other athletes.
Holding all four depth records simultaneously would be an exceptional achievement because it requires outstanding performances using different diving techniques. Klovar has already demonstrated that he can win gold without fins and in free immersion, but CWT and CWTB present different technical challenges and strong international competition. The possibility of claiming all the records should therefore be described as a sporting objective rather than a guaranteed outcome of future competitions. At this year's World Championships, Molchanov's new CWT benchmark also attracted attention, as did Törőcsik's record in the women's FIM discipline. These achievements confirm that the world's elite continue to push the limits, meaning records and the balance between leading competitors could change as early as the next major competition.
Seven medals confirm the strength of a successful generation
The World Championships in Limassol formed part of the 37th edition of AIDA's world championship competition cycle, with Cyprus once again hosting elite depth freedivers. According to information from organizers and local tourism institutions, competitions were scheduled over almost two weeks, while official performances across eight competition days concluded on October 8. Numerous national records and two new world records were achieved, further highlighting the standard of competition. Croatia won seven medals at such a championship, more than would usually be associated with a small national-team competitor base. Furthermore, the result was not based on a single exceptional performance but on repeated successful dives in different disciplines throughout the program.
For Klovar, the championship ended with five medals and confirmation that he can compete on equal terms with Molchanov, including in disciplines where the two alternate at the highest positions. For Delija, two silver medals represent further recognition of her long-standing consistency, together with a Croatian record in no-fins diving and second place in the demanding overall standings. Maričić, Čelar and Šobat completed a squad that has regularly appeared at the world's biggest competitions for several seasons. After the final dives in Cyprus, two facts remain clear: Croatia won two world championship gold medals and five silver medals, and its leading freedivers continue to belong among the very best in international competition.
Sources:
- The Freedive Ranking – results and standings from the World Apnea 2026 Depth World Championships in Limassol (link)
- Cyprus Mail – final day, Molchanov's world record and overall men's standings, October 9, 2026 (link)
- Cyprus Mail – overall women's standings and results of the final discipline, October 8, 2026 (link)
- Molchanovs – reports from individual competition days, results and background on world records (link)
- DeeperBlue – Delija's silver medal and Croatian record in CNF (link)
- Hina / AMAN – AIDA's annual awards for Maričić and Klovar and the Croatian national team lineup (link)
- HRT Radio Rijeka / Hina – Adriatic Depth Trophy results and the work of Rijeka's Ocean Diving Club (link)
- Molchanovs – results of the 2023 Depth World Championships and Maričić's overall title (link)
- Alchemy – overall standings of the 2024 AIDA World Championships (link)
- Molchanovs – overall standings of the 2025 AIDA World Championships (link)
- Limassol Tourism – official provisional dates, location and championship background (link)