Nataliia Zharkova is a Ukrainian competitive freediver who this year (2025), returned to the competition scene after a four year break and won overall silver in the CMAS World Championships, diving deeper than 100m in three disciplines.

She first appeared on the podcast on episode #66

In this episode we discuss:

Nataliia’s first appearance on the podcast was episode #66.
Nataliia was in Dubai at the rime of recording.
Nataliia took a four year break from high-level freediving competitions.
Nataliia won overall silver during the recent CMAS World Championships in 2025.
Her opinions on the incident around Andrey Matveenko’s accident in training before this competition.
How long was the preparatory period for the World Championships?
A breakdown of the year long period of training.
How does she do her tabata workout?
How did taking time off from training benefit Nataliia?
Is OnlyFans getting in to feeediving?
How does she balance training and coaching?
What kind of strength training regimen does she have?
Why did Nataliia not do CNF this year in the World Championships?
Working on tweaking equalisation for the deeper dives and tweaking neutral buoyancy.
Experiences with narcosis
Attitude towards diet and nutrition.
The joys of quitting coffee.
We discuss the doping scandal in freediving in depth.
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What does representing Ukraine mean for her?
Why does she freedive?

For all episodes of The Freedive Cafe Podcast, information about freediving courses, coaching, workshops and retreats in Dahab, Egypt, visit www.truedepthfreediving.com

To support on Patreon: www.patreon.com/freedivecafe

Zsófia Törőcsik is a Hungarian freediving athlete who in 2025 became the first female freediving athlete to dive a distance of 300m in the pool and in the same year won gold at the AIDA Depth World Championships; her first ever depth competition.

In this episode we discuss:

Zsófia’s experience at the CMAS World Championship 2025 and the controversy surrounding the competition and the accident that happened to Andrey Matveenko.
Zsófia is from Hungary and credits her family with shaping her childhood in a positive way.
She did triathlon for 10 years, also competitively.
A first freediving experience in Malta.
Joining a pool club in Hungary and focusing on pool training.
Zsófia won the AIDA Depth World Championships in 2025.
How did a background in triathlon help Zsófia become a world champion in freediving?
Zsófia’s complementary training for freediving, including lots of strength training and biking.
The joys of living and training for freediving in Budapest.
What does a typical week of training look like?
A question from Patreon member Marc about the frequency of max and sub-max dives compared to shorter dives.
A question from Patreon member Rodrigo about her speed during her world record dive.
Zsófia was the first woman to dive 300m in the pool.
A question from Patreon member Elena about Zsófia’s mental strategies for performing such big dives.
She is completely deaf in her right ear due to a mumps infection.
Her natural talent for mouthfill equalisation.
A question from Patreon member Tom regarding the current level of freediving athleticism and the future potential of freedivers and freediving as a sport.
Zsófia is a 37 years old.
The importance of maturity in freediving and why there are less young people in our sport.
Her approach to nutrition and supplements.
Zsófia works in IT and puts together systems for companies.
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Why does she freedive?

For all episodes of The Freedive Cafe Podcast, information about freediving courses, coaching, workshops and retreats in Dahab, Egypt, visit www.truedepthfreediving.com

To support on Patreon: www.patreon.com/freedivecafe

Anna-Karina Schmitt is a German freediver based in Switzerland. Today we talk about the technicalities of diving in lakes and the challenges of living with multiple sclerosis and how freediving inspires her healthy lifestyle.

In this episode we discuss:

Anna and I had some real challenges getting the interview done. It took 4 attempts!
She was going into have surgery on her ankle the day before the interview.
Anna is from Germany, but now lives in Switzerland.
Her first forays into freediving in the lake in Switzerland and then with Samo Jeranko.
Anna had a world record in the lake in CNF at the time of recording.
Optimising life for freediving.
What are the advantages and disadvantages of diving in the lake?
Question from Patreon supporter Philip about lake safety conditions.
How they manage safety in the lake. Torches, depth sounders.
Questions from Patreon supporters about higher risk of squeezing in the lake.
The interview got stopped! We reconnected a week later after Anna-Karina got out from her ankle surgery.
What is multiple sclerosis and how does it affect Anna?
Multiple sclerosis is an autoimmune disease.
How freediving and the freediving lifestyle support Anna’s challenges with MS.
What does a typical week of freediving training look like for Anna?
Does she use cold water immersion for dealing with the cold in the lake.
A question from Patreon supporter Tony about dive response in the lake.
Reference to Episode #62 With Kiki Bosch.
Anna’s approach to nutrition and supplementation.
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A dive she will always remember?
Why does she freedive?

For all episodes of the Freedive Cafe Podcast, visit www.freedivecafe.com

For freediving courses and training in Dahab, Egypt, visit www.freediveandthrive.com

To support on Patreon: www.patreon.com/freedivecafe