The 32nd edition of the AIDA World Championship started at a very high level. On the first day of the event held in Kaunas, Lithuania, several world records and marks were broken. The best exponents of apnea, diving without the help of oxygen tanks, dazzled on the opening day of the tournament.

The first event that opened the competitions was the Dynamic Bifins, that is, swimmers whose objective is to swim the greatest distance possible while holding their breath and only helped by fins on their feet. As published by the International Association for the Development of Apnea (AIDA), it is the newest modality that joined the ranks of apnea, incorporated in 2018.

In Kaunas was the event that opened the World Championship, with a shower of records. 13 national women’s records and another nine national records in the men’s category were broken. Furthermore, according to information from the AIDA, history was made by establishing new continental records in North America, plus the first gold medals in history for both the United States and Cuba.

In total, 114 athletes representing 35 different countries participated on this first day.

Who were the winners and the records of the first day? At SportsIn we review the list of winners and competitors who went down in history in their respective countries.

Podiums

Female
1. Julia Kozerska (Poland) – 225m
2. Jiyeon Kim (South Korea) – 217m
3. Kateryna Sadurska (Ukraine) – 216m

Male
1. Rolando Salgado (Cuba) – 255m
2. Karol Karcz (Poland) – 250m
3. Clement Lesaffre (France) – 232m

Continental records

North America
Natalie Bruce (Women, USA): 205m
Rolando Salgado (Men, Cuba): 225m

National records broken in Kaunas

Women
South Korea: 217m – Jiyeon Kim
Austria: 150m – Elisabeth Mattes
Latvia: 150m – Ilona Bardiseva
Romania: 147m – Diana Boesan
Latvia: 150m – Glorija Stecenko
Norway: 167m – Siri Østvold
Israel: 150m – Thalia Sklair
Finland: 173m – Janita Kulkula
Lithuania: 165m – Jelena Solovjova
Colombia: 153m – Diana Ninco
Hungary: 207m – Zsófia Törőcsik
Ukraine: 216m – Kateryna Sadurska
Spain: 160m – Lorena Prieto Cacabelos

Men
Canada: 177m – Sylvain Desaulniers
Serbia: 156m – Marko Radovic
Germany: 227m – Klaus Kasten
Finland: 213m – Olavi Paananen
Japan: 207m – Shinya Oi
Lithuania: 197m – Aleksandr Tetervov
Sweden: 232m – David Spreitz Elings
Germany: 229m – Michael Sadowicz
France: 232m – Clement Lesaffre