Zharkova claims world title as Törőcsik takes second overall crown

The final day of the women’s competition at the World Apnea 2026 Depth Championships on Wednesday “delivered drama all the way to the final results”, according to the organisers, who said there were “unexpected turns, challenging dives and the women’s Overall World Championship title decided only after the last performances were completed”. The final day also brought five National Records, with Jade MacDonald-Razvi setting an Australian mark at 88 metres, Maria Sitti establishing a new Cyprus record at 66m, Silviya Rashkova setting a Bulgarian record at 63m, Noor Issa a Lebanese record at 60m and Maha Alkuwari a Qatari record at 47m. All five records are pending official ratification. World Apnea is the global competition platform for freediving, bringing together the world’s leading athletes in the pursuit of performance, records and sporting excellence. The championships are organised under the rules and standards of AIDA International, the global federation for freediving. The deepest announced dive on Wednesday belonged to Zsófia Törőcsik (Hungary), who announced a spectacular 115m. But her dive ended with an early turn at 108m, resulting in negative points and leaving the CWT podium uncertain. Then came Nataliia Zharkova (Ukraine). With a powerful and controlled performance, Zharkova completed her 113-metre dive, earning a clean result and securing the CWT World Championship title. The other podium places remained uncertain for some time as the judges finalised the results. Ultimately, Jade Agboton (France) secured the silver medal with a successful 101m dive, while Törőcsik took bronze after the penalty for her early turn. But the CWT medals were only part of the story With the final women’s discipline completed, the Overall World Championship podium was also decided. Zsófia Törőcsik successfully defended her Overall World Championship title, becoming the women’s Overall World Champion once again. Sanda Delija of Croatia claimed the Overall silver medal, while Mojca Haberman of Slovenia completed the Overall podium with bronze. The women’s Overall competition delivered a remarkably close battle at the top, with Zsófia Törőcsik successfully defending her Overall World Championship title with 374 points. Her consistency across all four disciplines proved decisive. Sanda Delija finished second on 338 points, 36 behind Törőcsik, while Mojca Haberman took bronze with 308. The fight for the final Overall podium was particularly tight, with Jade Agboton finishing only three points behind Haberman on 305, while Irena Vanova was another ten points back on 295. Perhaps most notably, Nataliia Zharkova’s CWT victory on Wednesday moved her to sixth overall with 284 points, demonstrating how dramatically the final discipline could change the standings. For Törőcsik, it was a remarkable conclusion to a Championships in which she repeatedly challenged for the top positions and set a new FIM World Record of 108 metres earlier in the competition. Despite the disappointment of Wednesday’s early turn, her performances across the four disciplines were enough to secure her second consecutive Overall crown. World Apnea Championships The World Apnea Championships are being held from September 30 till October 9 in Limassol. For the fifth time, Cyprus welcomes an AIDA World Championship, reinforcing Limassol’s established connection with international freediving and depth training. The Mediterranean waters surrounding Limassol will become the setting for one of the most important events on the international freediving calendar, with athletes and teams arriving from more than 50 countries. For almost two weeks, Limassol is hosting an international community of athletes, coaches, judges, safety divers, medical professionals, media and event personnel, combining elite sport with the unique environment of Cyprus. Founded in 1992, AIDA is the world governing body for freediving and is headquartered in Switzerland. AIDA promotes the growth of freediving through competition, education, safety and international cooperation. The federation brings together more than 60 countries and has sanctioned over 30 World Championships and more than 300 freediving world records worldwide.