Hungarian freediver Fatima Korok is looking to defend her title in convincing fashion when she returns to compete in the 2024 Asian Freediving Cup later this month in Panglao, Bohol. 

The 31-year-old freediver is not only seeking to retain the title, but also beat her own personal best 102m/335ft that catapulted her to the top and became a world record in the discipline of Free Immersion (FIM) last year. 

Korok, who was in chronic pain from a broken ankle she just sustained before achieving the impressive feat, faces another untimely health challenge as she just recently recovered from a sinus infection which lasted for about a month. 

Making her training harder to get through, Korok is now focused on making the most of the competition and enjoying the deep dive. 

“Last year, I was very, very happy because it was my first competition of the season then I managed to become the overall winner,” said Korok. 

“I came back with the same goal that I wanted to have an outstanding place in the competition, potentially be the overall winner again. But I had this one month of sinus chronic infection. Now my goal is to just enjoy the competition and go back to Europe and continue the season with big competitions there,” she said. 

Korok has been in the Philippines for four months now, using the past few months to acclimatize herself with the Panglao weather condition. 

The competition will run from May 26 to June 5 which is exactly the best period to go freediving in the country with little to no wind which makes for a nice surface condition. 

Pitted against more or less 50 athletes from all over the world, the Hungarian world-record holder expects a tough competition, but not anything that he's unfamiliar with. 

Korok is also hoping to inspire more people to pick up freediving as a hobby or even participate competitively as it offers a whole lot of different experiences. 

“Modern freediving, diving among the line and having the disciplines, this is quite a new sport. I think we’re gonna see a huge increase in popularity, not just like in the last five to ten years, but more so in the next 10 years. The sport is gonna change a lot and more and more people will be into the sport. Because Asia is also like a very, very good place for diving,” she said. 

“I think we’re gonna have more freedivers coming all from these places.”