Who is Nataliia Zharkova

As I ended my swimmer career, I began working as a lifeguard at a pool. That’s when I met freedivers. Coach noticed my abilities and suggested I try. So I did and set a national record at the very first competition in 2008. In 2009, I participated in my first international freediving competition in Aarhus, Denmark. These were pool disciplines, and at that time, I was already a national record holder for Ukraine (pic 2)

I had my first experience of freediving in the sea in Crimea, but the real breakthrough came in 2010, when I trained under the guidance of Natalia Molchanova in Dahab (pic 3)
This experience motivated me even more, and in 2011, I took part in my first depth World Championship in Kalamata, where I placed 6th (pic 5)

Starting in 2013, I regularly appeared at the podium of World Championships in depth disciplines (pic 6) One of the significant moments in my development was diving in Dahab in 2016, when I swam through the famous Arch of Blue Hole — one of the most mystified and stunning underwater locations in the world (video 7) It was a true challenge that made me feel even closer to my then deceased mentor Natalia as she was the first one to complete this dive🧜🏼‍♀️

 In 2017, I set two world records at the European Championship, and I repeated this success at the World Championship in 2018.
In 2019, I reached a major milestone in my career: diving to a depth of 100 meters on a single breath, becoming the seventh woman in freediving history to achieve this (pic 8) That same year, I set two more world records at the CMAS Championship in Honduras.

In 2020, during the lockdown, my husband and I moved to Kyiv, where I developed the @deep_division_ freediving school with friends. The school is still active and is now led by my partner @natanielliu .

In 2021, we moved to Dubai, where I started working at @deepdivedubai — the deepest pool in the world. Later, I decided to adopt a more flexible schedule and focus on my personal development. Being back self-employed now feels like it suits me better 😉 as it allows me to continue improving my own skills

For me, freediving is a way to understand myself and the world. It can be something for you too!🙌