Turkish diver Şahika Ercümen breaks new freediving record

ANTALYA

Şahika Ercümen dedicated her world record to Gaza, opening a banner reading 'May Gaza breathe.' AA Photo

Turkish diver Şahika Ercümen broke a new world freediving record in the variable weight without fins discipline on July 23, off the coast of the Mediterranean resort town of Kaş.

Ercümen performed a 91-meter dive in 2 minutes and 49 seconds, taking the record from another Turkish diver, Derya Can, who broke it last year.

Following her dive, Ercümen dedicated the world record to Gaza, opening a banner reading “May Gaza breathe.”

“There will be new world record targets, but we will have to wait for a bit. I want to dive more than 100 meters for the 100 anniversary of the military victory in the Çanakkale campaign next year,” Ercümen said.
In the variable weight freediving discipline, athletes use a weighted sled while diving while following a rope to descend.

The 29-year-old Ercümen entered the Guinness Book of World Records in 2011 after freediving 110 meters apnea under ice.

She later helped a disabled athlete dive 22 meters, an attempt that was registered as the first ever official apnea dive on the variable weight without fins discipline by a disabled athlete.