About Marianna
Marianna Gillespie, born June 20th, 1990 in Moscow (USSR), ex-professional swimmer with a Master’s degree in physical education, is a competitive freediver currently ranked #1 within the AIDA World Ranking, all depth disciplines combined. Athlete who excels in both depth and pool freediving disciplines, Marianna was ranked #1 overall for two consecutive years, all disciplines combined (2014 and 2015). In December 2014, during the world’s most renowned freediving competition Vertical Blue, held in the Bahamas, she bursted on the international scene by gaining an overall gold medal and becoming the youngest female ever to win Vertical Blue. During that tournament she won silver diving to -86 meters in constant weight, gold in free immersion and another silver in constant weight without fins.
During that same year, she became a World Champion – bringing a gold medal to her team, competing at a Team World Championship.
In 2016, Marianna continued her depth progression, focusing on the specialty of constant weight and reached -93 meters, taking bronze medal at Vertical Blue and 4th place in the world in that discipline. She also brought a bronze medal to her team during the Team World Championship.
During Sabang International Freediving Competition in 2018, she obtained gold medals in all three depth disciplines and won the overall competition. The combination of her depth results placed her #5 deepest diver in the Overall Depth AIDA World Ranking that year.
In 2019, Marianna competed for the first time in constant weight bi-fins discipline. Diving to -85 meters, she not only established a new national record, but also positioned herself #2 in the AIDA World Ranking.
That same year, during the Individual Depth World Championship in Villefranche-sur-Mer, Marianna won the title of World Champion in free immersion, two silver medals in constant weight with monofin and without fins and has been awarded with the Molchanova prize as the best athlete of the World Championship.
