← Back to History of the Republic
Sakhalinio · CC BY-SA 4.0 ↗ Athlete library · Freediving
Şahika Ercümen: The discipline behind depth
Şahika Ercümen’s record dives illuminate a specialised career that expanded Türkiye’s visibility in underwater sport.
Career landmark · 2025Türkiye
Şahika Ercümen — archive photograph, not a photograph of every achievement described.
At a glance
- Discipline
- Freediving
- Role / event
- Variable-weight no-fins freediving
- Landmark
- 2025: 107 metres
Making freediving visible
Şahika Ercümen is one of the athletes who have helped make freediving more widely visible in Türkiye. In freediving, a performance takes place without breathing underwater from a breathing apparatus, distinguishing it from scuba diving. However, not every freediving attempt belongs to the same category. Pool distance, time and open-water depth measure different achievements, while the assistance used can also change the discipline. The depth attempts described here need to be understood within those distinctions. A single depth figure does not establish absolute superiority across all underwater sports. Her career also matters because specialised sporting work has been connected to public visibility and social projects, giving audiences several ways to engage with a discipline they may not otherwise encounter.
↑ Back to dossier contentsHatay in the Republic’s centenary year
Her 106-metre dive at Yayladağı in Hatay in 2023 was an important career moment associated with the Republic’s centenary. The Turkish Education Foundation’s 2023 annual report describes the project in connection with supporting the education of one hundred female students. The performance consequently carried an educational message beyond its individual depth target. This matters because an athlete’s visibility can have a public use outside the field of a competition or record attempt. The educational project is not another medal result; it is a separate dimension illustrating how sporting achievement and social contribution can complement one another. Reading the Hatay attempt through both dimensions gives a fuller account than presenting the depth number alone.
↑ Back to dossier contentsKaş in 2025: a category-specific announcement
In a report dated 17 October 2025, the Turkish Underwater Sports Federation announced that Ercümen had reached 107 metres at Kaş in variable weight without fins. It described the attempt as an improvement on her earlier 106-metre performance. The category name matters as much as the depth: variable weight is not the same set of conditions as constant weight, and the use of fins also changes classification. The announcement must therefore not be generalised into a single record covering every kind of freediving. Nor does a result announced on a particular date establish a ranking that can never change. Taken together, the 2023 and 2025 attempts show a career developing through dated objectives and successive performances.
↑ Back to dossier contentsThe team behind the performance and its public meaning
Although a depth attempt may place one athlete at the centre of the image, organisation, observation and safety support are inseparable from the performance. That less visible work explains why freediving should not be reduced to a story about courage or willpower alone. Ercümen’s public profile is valuable in introducing Türkiye’s underwater sports and adding another dimension to the country’s relationship with the sea. A professional performance is not, however, an invitation for viewers to reproduce the attempt. Breath-holding and depth activities carry serious risks; this biography provides no training programme or practical instructions. The sporting achievement is best understood through the work undertaken within a structured, specialist-supported setting. Her connection with an education project belongs to that broader public story, without turning the page into advice on how to attempt a dive.
↑ Back to dossier contentsŞahika Ercümen — archive photograph, not a photograph of every achievement described. Sakhalinio · CC BY-SA 4.0
Documents and sources3 sources
Official reference points used to verify the chronology and interpretive frame on this page.
- Şahika Ercümen — career and results record ↗Türkiye Sualtı Sporları Federasyonu
Source consulted for the biography and competition context. Checked: 13 September 2026.
- Şahika Ercümen — career and results record ↗Anadolu Ajansı
Source consulted for the biography and competition context. Checked: 13 September 2026.
- 2023 annual report: Ercümen’s education project ↗Türk Eğitim Vakfı
Primary record supporting 2023 annual report: ercümen’s education project.