Kozerska sets new WR, China adds two golds in freediving at Chengdu World Games

CHENGDU, Aug. 10 (Xinhua) -- Poland's Julia Malgorzata Kozerska electrified The World Games pool on Sunday with a new world record in the freediving women's dynamic without fins event, while Chinese athletes delivered golden performance in para freediving competitions.

Kozerska's winning distance of 222.5 meters shattered her previous mark of 214.0m set at 2025 CMAS World Championship Freediving Indoor Masters in Athens, Greece this May.

"I am super happy. I improved my old record by eight meters and a half, so it's great result, great improvements," said the 37-year-old. "I was expecting something big, but I didn't expect that I'd go this well."

Crediting her rapid progress to relentless preparation, the champion added: "I have been preparing for The World Games for the last 10 months, so there is no secret. Just hard work and good mindset."

Zsofia Torocsik of Hungary was 10m behind to take the silver, while Poland's Magdalena Solich Talanda settled for the bronze.

Chinese para athletes Long Dengxi and Huang Shiyu topped the men's and women's dynamic without fins - FFS1-FFS2 categories, respectively, while Huang Jingqiu was disqualified in the women's event for failing the surface protocol.

"I didn't hit my personal best, but achieving this result in competition is already really satisfying," Long said of his winning distance of 134.5m.

"I've been practicing freediving for less than a year, so competing internationally feels like a real privilege," said 15-year-old Huang Shiyu. "Winning gold makes me happy deep down, yet also strangely calm - it just feels like any other training day."

In the men's dynamic without fins event, world record holder Mateusz Jan Malina of Poland took the gold medal with a distance of 228.5m, with Rolando Salgado Martinez of Cuba and Croatia's Vanja Peles completing the podium in second and third place, respectively.

"It's hard, very challenging. I did my maximum today. I've never swum in such deep pool (3 meters). So it was challenging to adjust my buoyancy," said Malina.

China's Jin Ming finished third in the men's dynamic without fins event, a result he called "a warmup for tomorrow's event," while Tang Ke has been disqualified from the women's event for failing the surface protocol.

Contested as Dynamic Apnoea, which refers to "voluntary breath-holding" in water sports, freediving tests athletes' ability to swim maximum horizontal distance underwater while holding breath.

Competitions at the Chengdu World Games feature two classes, for both men and women: with no swimming aids, and with either monfin or bi-fins. There are also separate events for athletes with defined impairments. ■