With the US Freediving Federation experiencing tremendous membership growth in the last two years, it is necessary to expand the leadership community to support that growth and help guide the evolution of freediving in the United States. “Based on the background of Rebekah and her pursuit in the sport, she was the obvious choice to bring onboard to the organization as the Technical Director”, said Jeremy Stephan, Founder/Executive Director of the USFF. “Rebekah has shown nothing but passion for freediving and has helped to nurture a number of freedivers in northern California.”
If you have any questions about the official CMAS comp rules for pool or depth, judge training courses or need a judge for a record attempt, you are encouraged to contact Rebekah at the email located on the Who We Are page of the website.
Biography for Rebekah Phillips
As a California Bay Area native, Rebekah started freediving for abalone, shells and fish, and to explore the natural wonders of the ocean world.
Her sense of competitiveness was fueled throughout her childhood by her four sisters and various competitive sports. Her experience as a D1 athlete and volunteer work for regional and international sports competitions inspired her pursuit as a Freediving Judge.
In 2018 Rebekah participated as a judge in the First CMAS Freediving Hawaiian Cup and accomplished the role of an International CMAS Freediving Judge. Upon her return to Monterey, CA she established the first Freediving School in Northern California.
Spring of 2019, she accepted the assignment of primary technical delegate / Judge for Wojciech Czyz’s Paralympic World Record Attempts. After completing that assignment she represented the US Freediving Federation as a Judge at the first ever AIDA and CMAS combined International Freediving Event. At the 2019 Carribean World Cup and CMAS World Championships, Rebekah gained the experience of working with a highly skilled team of judges, safeties and organizers.
Inspired, she set forth to build the foundation to have competitions in the USA. Working with the US Freediving Federation, Lance Lee Davis and the Southern California Crew. they began to work on the safety skills and support system to host a competition in the near future.
In 2021, Rebekah was granted the honor of working Vertical Blue as an International Judge, a prestigious and world renowned freediving competition in Dean’s Blue Hole, Long Island Bahamas, hosted by William Trubridge.
In May of 2022, Rebekah worked with her peers to organize a depth competition in Redondo Beach, California. The 2022 Vertical Green Invitational under CMAS rules was the first of its kind in California and successfully hosted over 20 athletes. In conjunction with the competition, Rebekah organized and ran a national outdoor judge course for the US Freediving Federation under CMAS rules. This course helped to set the foundation of future judge courses with the curriculum that was structured to train new judges.
Rebekah’s myriad of experience, contributions, passion and professionalism makes her qualified as our Technical Director.