Hopes are fading that the world's most famous female freediver will be found alive after she went missing three days ago.
Natalia Molchanova (53) was diving recreationally without fins at a depth of 30-40m off Spain's Balearic islands when she failed to resurface on Sunday.
A search has been taking place for the the Russian woman since she disappeared off the coast of Formentera.
Maritime rescue coordinator Miguel Chicon said the operation was "very complicated" because she could have become trapped by weights she was wearing at the time of the dive.
A submersible robot was brought in to expand the search on Tuesday and the hunt was due to resume on Wednesday.
Will Trubridge, one of the most respected freedivers in the world, tweeted the world had "lost its greatest freediver".
AIDA, the international diving federation, described Molchanova as the most decorated competitive freediver in the world. She holds 41 world records and is a world champion 23 times.
She is the creator and current president of the Freediving Federation of Russia and she designed and taught freediving programmes all over the world, training thousands of people.
The sport involves participants swimming as deeply as they can while holding their breath.
AIDA said in a statement: "Natalia trained hard for her sport, she had a nine minute breath hold, could dive to a depth of 101m using a fin and swim a distance of 234m with a fin."
It added: "Natalia is a proud mother of Oksana and Alexey. She loved children and was awaiting the day when she would become a grandmother."
"She was an inspiration to all freedivers and despite being one of the fiercest competitors in the world, she was always calm and relaxed during competitions."
"She said 'birth and death are important, but freediving competitions are just games for adults'."
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