Rossana Maiorca

Rossana Maiorca was an Italian freediver, born in Syracuse on 23 February 1960 and died in Mestre on 6 January 2005. She was the daughter of the pioneer Enzo Maiorca and the sister of Patrizia Maiorca, and she learned to dive under her father and the coach Nuccio Di Dato. She was the first athlete in the world to use a monofin in vertical diving, guided by Professor Franco Bizzotto, and she held world records several times. Her first world mark came at 19, when she matched her sister with a constant weight dive to 40 metres using only mask and fins. She died of breast cancer at 44, and a statue called Sirena di Sicilia, made by Pietro Marchese in 2008, stands in the Plemmirio marine protected area at Syracuse in her honour.