Nataliia Zharkova (born 24 January 1989) is a 2017
freediving
Freediving, free-diving, free diving, breath-hold diving, or skin diving is a form of underwater diving that relies on breath-holding until resurfacing rather than the use of breathing apparatus such as scuba gear.
Besides the limits of breath-h ...
champion of Europe and
Ukraine
Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...
. Zharkova holds multiple records in the discipline of
freediving
Freediving, free-diving, free diving, breath-hold diving, or skin diving is a form of underwater diving that relies on breath-holding until resurfacing rather than the use of breathing apparatus such as scuba gear.
Besides the limits of breath-h ...
. She was also a
freediving
Freediving, free-diving, free diving, breath-hold diving, or skin diving is a form of underwater diving that relies on breath-holding until resurfacing rather than the use of breathing apparatus such as scuba gear.
Besides the limits of breath-h ...
runner-up champion of the world in 2013. She is the first Ukrainian and the second woman to ever dive below the arch of the
Blue Hole
A blue hole is a large marine cavern or sinkhole, which is open to the surface and has developed in a bank or island composed of a carbonate bedrock ( limestone or coral reef). Their existence was discovered in the late 20th century by fishe ...
vertical underwater cave in
Dahab
Dahab ( arz, دهب, , "gold") is a small Egyptian town on the southeast coast of the Sinai Peninsula in Egypt, approximately northeast of Sharm el-Sheikh. Formerly a Bedouin fishing village, Dahab is now considered to be one of Egypt's most tre ...
, Egypt, on a single breath.
Biography
Swimming career, 1997–2007
Zharkova started swimming at the age of seven, when her parents introduced her to swimming to alleviate her spinal medical condition. Within six months she was accepted for the school of Olympic Reserve of Ukraine where she spent a total of 10 years.
Zharkova represented
Ukraine
Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...
In 2008 Zharkova was introduced to freediving and began active training.
In 2009, she participated in a world championship held at Aarhus, Denmark. Zharkova set new Ukraine's national records in
freediving
Freediving, free-diving, free diving, breath-hold diving, or skin diving is a form of underwater diving that relies on breath-holding until resurfacing rather than the use of breathing apparatus such as scuba gear.
Besides the limits of breath-h ...
.
In 2010, Zharkova competed in
Ukraine
Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...
, Russia and Latvia. Each participation brought Zharkova a new Ukraine's national record.
In 2011, the first depth competitions AIDA International World Championship were held at
Kalamata
Kalamáta ( el, Καλαμάτα ) is the second most populous city of the Peloponnese peninsula, after Patras, in southern Greece and the largest city of the homonymous administrative region. As the capital and chief port of the Messenia regi ...
, Greece. Zharkova's first participation in the depth competitions put her near the top freedivers in the discipline, taking 6th place in the CNF discipline (constant weight, no fins). She also set new Ukraine national records in the discipline. ()
In 2012, Ukraine first participated in the team world championship event, held in
Nice
Nice ( , ; Niçard dialect, Niçard: , classical norm, or , nonstandard, ; it, Nizza ; lij, Nissa; grc, Νίκαια; la, Nicaea) is the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes departments of France, department in France. The Nice urban unit, agg ...
, France. Zharkova represented
Ukraine
Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...
along with Alexander Bubenchikov and Valentin Kuznetsov. Zharkova improved her previous national records and took 5th place in the world rating.
In 2013, the AIDA International World Championships were held in
Kalamata
Kalamáta ( el, Καλαμάτα ) is the second most populous city of the Peloponnese peninsula, after Patras, in southern Greece and the largest city of the homonymous administrative region. As the capital and chief port of the Messenia regi ...
, Greece. Zharkova along with
Natalia Molchanova
Natalia Vadimovna Molchanova (russian: Наталья Вадимовна Молчанова; 8 May 1962 – 2 August 2015) was a Russian champion free diver, multiple world record holder, and the former president of the Russian Free Dive Feder ...
Belgrad
Belgrade ( , ;, ; names in other languages) is the capital and largest city in Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and the crossroads of the Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. Nearly 1,166,763 million ...
Limassol
Limassol (; el, Λεμεσός, Lemesós ; tr, Limasol or ) is a city on the southern coast of Cyprus and capital of the district with the same name. Limassol is the second largest urban area in Cyprus after Nicosia, with an urban population ...
Kaş
Kaş (; el, Αντίφελλος, translit=Antífellos, translit-std=ISO) is a small fishing, diving, yachting and tourist town, and a district of Antalya Province of Turkey, 168 km west of the city of Antalya. As a tourist resort, it is re ...
AIDA International
Association Internationale pour le Développement de l'Apnée (AIDA) (English: ''International Association for the Development of Apnea'') is a worldwide rule- and record-keeping body for competitive breath holding events, also known as freedivi ...
, instructor (Emergency First Response-EFR). She is a chairman of the
Freediving
Freediving, free-diving, free diving, breath-hold diving, or skin diving is a form of underwater diving that relies on breath-holding until resurfacing rather than the use of breathing apparatus such as scuba gear.
Besides the limits of breath-h ...
committee at UFUA (Ukrainian Federation of Underwater Activities) and is a member of the CMAS international committee. She is an author of multiple training programs and a coach at the Deep Division
freediving
Freediving, free-diving, free diving, breath-hold diving, or skin diving is a form of underwater diving that relies on breath-holding until resurfacing rather than the use of breathing apparatus such as scuba gear.
Besides the limits of breath-h ...
school in
Kharkiv
Kharkiv ( uk, wikt:Харків, Ха́рків, ), also known as Kharkov (russian: Харькoв, ), is the second-largest List of cities in Ukraine, city and List of hromadas of Ukraine, municipality in Ukraine. Dahab, Egypt and actively prepares for upcoming competitions.
On 27 October 2016, Zharkova became the first Ukrainian and the second woman in the world (after
Natalia Molchanova
Natalia Vadimovna Molchanova (russian: Наталья Вадимовна Молчанова; 8 May 1962 – 2 August 2015) was a Russian champion free diver, multiple world record holder, and the former president of the Russian Free Dive Feder ...
) to dive through an underwater vertical cave known as
Blue Hole
A blue hole is a large marine cavern or sinkhole, which is open to the surface and has developed in a bank or island composed of a carbonate bedrock ( limestone or coral reef). Their existence was discovered in the late 20th century by fishe ...
on a single breath. Zharkova immersed to a depth of 56 meters and then swam 30 meters under the arch.