VNR Alert: Gallardo Equals Free Immersion World Record At AIDA Asian Freediving Cup 2026
American dives 106m in Panglao to join the deepest Free Immersion mark in women's freediving, days after already opening the competition with a continental record
PANGLAO, 21 JULY 2026 - Enchante Gallardo (USA) equaled the AIDA Female World Record in Free Immersion on the eighth day of competition at the AIDA Asian Freediving Cup 2026, diving 106m in Panglao, Philippines, and surfacing to a clean white card.
World Record pending doping results.
The dive is the culmination of a goal Gallardo has carried for years, and of a run of attempts that did not go her way. "It's been years since I've wanted to achieve a world record," she said. "Those failed attempts have been drive and motivation to actually work harder." She opened this competition on Day 1 with 104m to set a North American Continental Record, then returned on the final day of women's diving to go two meters deeper, matching the 106m set by Natalia Zharkova in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt, in May 2026. The two now share the World Record. Gallardo's 106m is also the deepest Free Immersion dive by an American.
She left the water with her sights already set beyond it. "One of the biggest things is not to give up on your dreams," she said. "I still want to go deeper, and I'm definitely motivated for more."
Gallardo's record caps a competition that has produced some of the deepest women's diving on record. On Day 1, Jingyu Ning (CHN) opened the entire event with 114m in Constant Weight, the third-deepest dive ever recorded by a woman in the sport, and a new Asian Continental Record.
Free Immersion (FIM) is a depth discipline in which athletes descend and ascend a vertical line by pulling with their arms, without fins or any other propulsion, on a single breath.
