Turkish diver Şahika Ercümen says feels safer underwater than on street

Turkish free diver Şahika Ercümen has said that she feels much freer and safer underwater than on the street. “If something is going to happen to me, let it be while under the water,” Ercümen said during a program on Bloomberg HT.

Thursday November 04 2021 07:16 pm

Duvar English

Turkish free diver Şahika Ercümen has said that she feels safer while in water than on the street. Ercümen made the remarks on Nov. 3 as she attended journalist Fatih Altaylı's program aired on Bloomberg HT.

Ercümen spoke of her experience from last week in Turkey's southern province of Antalya where she broke the world record at variable weight freediving without using breathing.

“I believe that humans have no limits. This is why I say every time, 'I can do more.' During this record, I have held my breath for close to 3 minutes. In fact, I can hold my breath up to 6 minutes,” Ercümen said.

Ercümen managed to complete 100-meter diving with the time of 2 minutes and 53 seconds in offshore Kaş on Oct. 26.

Ercümen further said that she had been infected with the COVID-19 virus during the pandemic and at the time was scared about not being able to dive again. “I feel safe under the water. Below the water is like my home. I am safer under the water than on the street. If something is going to happen to me, let it be while under the water,” Ercümen said.

Ercümen, an ambassador for underwater life with the United Nations Development Program, is a competitive freediver.

She recently earned three medals and broke five Turkish records in the 2021 Vertical Blue freediving competition at Dean’s Blue Hole in the Bahamas.