The sixth edition of the RedCcup, held in Dahab from 1 – 3 3 – 5 November, yielded some great results. The competition, organized by Wendy Timmermans and Pim Vermeulen, saw loads of National Records being set across the board. Twenty-three athletes from thirteen different countries took part in the event. The depth side of the competition was dominated by Nataliia Zharkova and Samo Jeranko, with South Korean athletes also showing very strong performances. Linda Paganelli from Italy was also a strong contender.
Let’s look at the results:
Day 1:
- Deepest Male: Sungsu Kim (South Korea) 82m – Constant Weight (CWT)
- Deepest Female: Nataliia Zharkova (Ukraine) 82m – Free Immersion (FIM)
National Records:
- Ka Wing (Eva) Ng (Hong Kong) 45m – Free Immersion (FIM)
- Passante Adel (Egypt) 54m – Free Immersion (FIM)
- Nataliia Zharkova (Ukraine) 82m – Free Immersion (FIM)
- Linda Paganelli (Italy) 53m – Constant Weight No-Fins (CNF)
- Pete Botman (Netherlands) 61m – Constant Weight No-Fins (CNF)
- Samo Jeranko (Slovenia) 77m – Constant Weight No-Fins (CNF)
- Sungsu Kim (South Korea) 82m – Constant Weight (CWT)
- Inge Verbruggen (Belgium) 46m – Constant Weight (CWT)
Day 2 (STA):
- Longest Static: Pete Botman (Netherlands) 6min 31sec
National Records:
- Amal Naser (Saudi Arabia) 4min 00sec
- Raghda Ezzeldin (Egypt) 4min 21sec
Day 3:
- Deepest Male: Samo Jeranko (Slovenia) 92m – Constant Weight (CWT)
- Deepest Female: Neza Cec (Slovenia) 60m – Free Immersion (FIM)
National Records:
- Oleksandr Bubenchykov (Ukraine) 65m – Constant Weight No-Fins (CNF)
- Linda Paganelli (Italy) 56m – Constant Weight No-Fins (CNF)
- Raghda Ezzeldin (Egypt) 42m – Free Immersion (FIM)
Special mention goes to the Saudi and Egyptian freedivers who took part. Passante Adel, who not only set an Egyptian record but also an African continental record in FIM. Despite running out of equalization on her dive, she decided to push an extra 2m to grab the white card on day 1. It’s hard to believe that she was a non-swimmer only a year ago! Earlier this year, Passante, a single mother, set up a gofundme page to help her raise money to become a freediving instructor and to allow her to compete.
Raghda Ezzeldin from Egypt also showed that Egypt has a lot of potential to be discovered and nurtured. Congratulations also to Amal Naser for making Saudi Arabia proud. You are the trailblazers for the next generation of female freedivers and we wish you the best of luck in developing your talents even further.
