DeeperBlue reports that The Women Divers Hall of Fame has just released the names of its 2009 honorees. Topping the list is Mandy-Rae Cruickshank. Mandy-Rae is a world renowned freediver and scuba Course Director. She holds 7 world records in Freediving and teaches both recreational and professional level freediving classes with her company Performance Freediving International.
Three years ago, Cruickshank and her coach/husband Kirk Krack teamed up on an undercover mission with the Oceanic Preservation Society to shed light on the horrific capture and slaughter of dolphins in a small cove in Japan. The documentary called THE COVE has already won awards at the Sundance Film Festival and will be released this summer.
The other five women who were inducted into the WDHOF included Dr. Melanie Clark, Randi Eisen, Pauline Fiene, Dr. Anita George-Ares, and Margo Peyton. The awards were given at the Beneath the Sea Awards Banquet Saturday night at the Sheraton Meadowlands Hotel in Secaucus, New Jersey. As each woman was presented with her WDHOF gold membership pin and certificate by the WDHOF Board of Directors and Officers, they joined the esteemed ranks of the most accomplished and outstanding women divers in the world. This marks the 33rd annual Beneath the Sea Conference and the 9th class of prestigious women divers.
