BLOG &
NEWS

The U.S. Freediving Federation is proud to announce the athletes selected to represent the United States at the 2026 CMAS Freediving World Championships.

Athlete registration opened on December 12th and closed on January 25th, with over 50 athletes from across the country applying. The depth and diversity of talent continues to grow each year, and selection was made based on the established criteria for eligibility and competitive readiness.

From this pool, 22 athletes have been selected to represent the U.S. freediving community on the world stage.

On March 13–14, 2026, the United States freediving community marked a significant milestone with the successful completion of the nation’s first sanctioned under-ice depth freediving event. This groundbreaking achievement represents a new chapter in U.S. freediving history, opening the door for future competitions in one of the sport’s most demanding environments.

In a groundbreaking move to expand the accessibility of freediving training in the United States, StarGuard ELITE, Deep End Fitness, and U.S. Freediving Federation have joined forces to launch a nationwide initiative. This collaboration aims to create a standardized set of safety protocols and training guidelines that will allow public and private pools across the country to welcome freedivers of all skill levels.

The U.S. Freediving Federation (USFF), national governing body for the sport of freediving in the United States is proud to announce the launch of a landmark initiative aimed at expanding pool access for freedivers nationwide. Beginning in January 2026, this initiative will focus on establishing a standardized set of safety protocols, training guidelines, and a certification program to enable freedivers to train in public and private pools across the country.

On 26 July 2025, Maui hosted its first official CMAS-sanctioned static apnea competition. Held on Maui’s lush north shore, the event brought together seven athletes from across Hawai‘i for an afternoon of focus, personal bests, and record-setting attempts.

I was thrilled to receive an invitation to Vertical Blue 2025, the “Back to the Origin of Depths” edition.  William Trubridge described it as a refreshing return to the essence of freediving, with a continued commitment to marine conservation and protecting the ocean that fuels our passion.  That spirit is exactly why I began competing eleven years ago. I’ve long had a deep connection with Dean’s Blue Hole—both through my ocean acoustic research and my freediving journey. It is the most iconic freediving site in the world and the perfect setting to compete. 

It’s with great pride that we announce a historic development: Avi Kleyman has been appointed to the CMAS Freediving Commission — making him the first American to hold a seat on this global governing body.

The CMAS Freediving Commission is a 4-year appointment and plays a critical role in shaping the future of our sport. From competition standards and education to judging programs and development strategies, this group steers the direction of freediving worldwide.

The U.S. National Freediving Team delivered a remarkable performance at the 2025 CMAS World Championship Freediving Indoor, held from May 18-24 at the iconic Olympic Aquatic Centre in Athens, Greece. The event welcomed 200+ elite athletes from 40+ nations, competing across a wide range of indoor freediving disciplines.

The 2025 US National Team has been selected and we are excited for their opportunity to perform on the World stage representing the United States.

To help ensure that the technical standards and competition guidelines are maintained, as well as bring more infrastructure to judging and event structures, the USFF has appointed Francesca Koe to the position of Technical Director for the calendar years of 2025-2026.

Rachel Novak was the voice and commentator on the DiveEye live stream from Belgrade, and she will return to Europe to take up the post for the Outdoor Worlds in Kalamata. It is great having someone so professional and with such knowledge around the sport to guide us through the competition.

The CMAS Indoor World Championships took place from July 6th, 2024 to July 10th, 2024, attracting all the indoor freediving top athletes from around the world. This year, we had the largest team in history representing the US at the Indoor World Championships with 6 members: Claire Paris, Natalie Bruce, Anastasia Tajik, Eric Cintra, Brady Bradshaw and Evan Walther.  Take a look here to learn how the team performed at the World Championships. We have some new World and National Records from the US Team!!

The 2024 US National Team comprises of athletes who will be representing the United States at both 2024 CMAS World Championships. The Indoor World Championships will be held from July 5th to the 10th in Belgrade, Serbia. The Outdoor World Championships will be held in the Mediterranean Sea in the month of October. Here is a list of the athletes that have been selected to represent the United States.

Over the last weeks, both Dr. Juani Valdivia (Medical Director for the USFF) and Lance Davis (Team Captain 2023) have met to organize the position of the USFF around incidences of blackouts/LMS/LS, how to grade them and when it could be safe to return to diving.

The CMAS World Championships took place this year in Roatan, Honduras with Esteban Darharnpe as the official organizer. This was the 2nd time the World Championship took place in Roatan as a break from Kas, Turkey. The US National Team was strong in numbers and performance and marks the largest team that the US Freediving Federation has ever sent to the CMAS World Championships.

Over the last two months, CMAS International has taken a lead position on this doping matter by suspending a few athletes who tested positive. While the suspensions given are provisional and subject to further investigation, it is a step forward to help keep freediving a clean sport.

The US Freediving Federation will not tolerate anything less than a clean sport and it expects its athletes, as well as those across the world, to hold themselves to the highest standards of sport to keep the game fair for all. Anything less than is unacceptable.

With the US Freediving Federation experiencing tremendous membership growth in the last two years, it is necessary to expand the leadership community to support that growth and help guide the evolution of freediving in the United States. “Based on the background of Rebekah and her pursuit in the sport, she was the obvious choice to bring onboard to the organization as the Technical Director”, said Jeremy Stephan, Founder/Executive Director of the USFF. “Rebekah has shown nothing but passion for freediving and has helped to nurture a number of freedivers in northern California.”

December 1 - 3, 2023 marks the dates for the 2023 “UNU” Tampa Bay Freediving Challenge event which is being organized by Jani Valdivia. The event is being held at the HIGH 5 Pool  located in Brandon, Florida, just outside Tampa.  This event will serve as the US Nationals for both the US Freediving Federation (CMAS) and USA Freediving (AIDA).

This year marks the 3rd time that the United States has Athletes participating in the CMAS World Championships of Freediving. The event which is held in the idyllic Mediterranean seaside town of Kas, Turkey from October 1 - 9th brings participants from more than 30 countries where athletes compete for depth records in four (4) freediving disciplines. “Not only will the USFF have 14 total athletes attending, but the team make-up is 8 athletes under the age of 50 in the senior category, and 6 athletes in the 50+ master category which is a 233% increase over 2021” said Jeremy Stephan, President of the US Freediving Federation. “This year’s team is made up of some of the best depth freedivers from across the United States.”

Since having been launched in March of 2018, the last 12 months have provided the US Freediving Federation (USFF) with tremendous growth from the freediving community across the US. The pandemic and the economy has caused people to re-evaluate what is important in life, focus more on themselves and get connected to the environment.

To support this growth and strengthen the USFF, a few appointments will be taking place over the next month with the first one being Dr. Juan Valdivia as the Medical Director. 

The USFF is proud to announce "Team United States" for the CMAS World Indoor Freediving Championships." The championships will be held in Belgrade, Serbia from the 10-16th of June, 2022. This is the 2nd year the United States is represented and it comes with 300% growth in participation.

The guidelines below have been established to provide clarity on eligibility and the selection process for the US National Team in either indoor or outdoor.

The first US Freediving Federation (USFF) and World Confederation of Underwater Activities (CMAS) sanctioned freediving depth competition in the continental United States has been officially announced and is a go! The invitational competition, Vertical Green 2022, will run May 14th - 15th, 2022 in the cold and deep waters of the Redondo Submarine Canyon in Redondo Beach, California, USA.

The Bar ‘Inched’ Higher in US Women’s Freediving.

Specifically, about 39 inches (1 meter). Katie Kleinwachter, the freediver out of Illinois, has pushed all three United States records in women’s dynamic freediving further in the first quarter of 2022 - two of them by approximately just 1 meter.

The beautiful and idyllic Honaunau Bay, home to the upcoming 2021 Hawai’i Cup in October, was the stage for back to back national records for two Masters this past weekend.

Masters Annabel Edwards and Jennifer Brant made the history books by establishing the first national records in the 50+ category for two disciplines each.

Two months before Erwan Le Corre turns 50 and starts to compete in the Masters category, he bested 31 year old Christopher Funada’s static record by a whopping 44 seconds. Erwan has proven that it’s not about age but rather mindfulness in achieving a new Men’s national record for the US Freediving Federation.

130 athletes from 26 countries convened in Belgrade, Serbia from 21 – 27 June for the 11th CMAS Indoor Freediving World Championship, and for the first time in history, the United States was among the participating countries.

The road to expansion is dotted with landmarks. It’s a historic time for US Freediving, as the federation strong in depth begins to expand to Indoor (time and distance).

2021 promises to be an epic year with many firsts for this young federation. Of note: June 21st-27th in Belgrade, Serbia, the United States will make its debut appearance at a CMAS Indoor World Championship.

Last weekend in Tampa Florida at the Apollo Beach Racquet & Fitness Club, Juani Valdivia held the Tampa Bay Apnea Challenge - UNU Pool Competition. This was a joint rules event meaning that athletes could announce their performances under either CMAS or AIDA rules. Once they make that announcement, all performances are done under that set of rules.

Both CMAS and AIDA oversee competitions and have their own set of rules. In general the rules are very similar, but athletes are responsible for knowing the rules of the agency overseeing their performance.