Women's:
Savanah McGuire
Savanah is growing up with a diving family.
She started swimming competitively at age 6
and has been diving and surfing for the last 5 years.
She spearfishes in the Midwest lakes of the US and
at our Villa down in the Baja. also dives for large red Abalone in Northern California.
She has competed in regional events taking large carp and small mouth bass.
She has the Northern Pike World Record for women
taken in Colorado at 16.6 pounds.
She is stoked to be diving with all these great women and plans to have some great fun.
Best fishes to all for a safe event.
SM
Kelsey Albert
I am an avid Spearfishing Freediver with over 15 years diving and over 10 years in competition spearfishing. I grew up on the riverbanks of the Chesapeake Bay watershed rivers and coastal Southern California, waterbound my entire life. I got my start in competition spearfishing in Southern California when I found my diving family in the Los Angeles Fathomiers Dive club. I competed in my first Nationals Spearfishing competition in 2009. The biggest fish I have speared to date, is a yellowfin tuna, as long as I am tall. The toughest fish I have speared, and by far my favorite is the dog toothed snapper. Pound for pound, much harder to hunt than bigger fish, and the sense of accomplishment far greater for me. I have so many great diving moments, that it is hard to pick out my favorite dive.
However, one of my most memorable hunts, was a seabass hunt that went from dusk into night. I remember watching the sunset, as I swam so far out from where I got into the water. Like so many times before, I swim well into the night, hunting fish. I love listening to the seabass sing like giant frogs as they set up in the kelp beds. Their sounds always haunt me year after year, because they make such booming and beautiful noises that shake my bones when they are close and so loud. When the water is clear or hazy, I always enjoy the moments where the setting sun lets golden rays under the kelp cannopy into the kelp bed, and it is so dark on the bottom and so peaceful, that I just sink and lay there, watching the fish swim above me and the fading lights of the day. Its these moments where I am no longer hunting for fish, but turning inward to myself and disconnecting with all of the poppycock nonsense of the world above the surface. And I am free… for a while. I remember many dives blending together like this, and when I could no longer see color in my vision, as the sun was long gone, I saw an enormous seabass below me, as I descended. I fell deeper motionless, keeping my gun retracted until the last moment possible. A loud snap and small cavitation from steel burning water, disturbing the lazy motion of the dark kelp below. Her motionless white belly beamed in the darkness. I brought her to the surface, drove my spike into her brain, and began my long swim back to shore. The stars lit the sky as I hucked a 5 foot long fish, a 55 inch wooden gun and the weight of dive gear up a 200 foot cliff on my back, at almost 75% of my body weight. I remember reaching the top, laying all of this down to look at the night sky, and realizing how great it is, to have solitude, peace, a successful hunt. I was supposed to be studying for a doctoral exam…. I slept in my truck, showed up and aced my test anyway, with a huge grin on my face. Not sure what my classmates did to prepare for that exam, but Im pretty sure my way of studying worked brilliantly.
Outside of spearfishing, I also have a love of personal watercraft, and compete in Freestyle competitions. Last year I earned my way to be the only woman to place in the top 10 in the World for Amature Freestyle on my Custom Yamaha Superjet. I am a very active athlete in both powersports and spearfishing. I wrench on my own boats and setup my own diver gear for competitions. As a woman who has made history in spearfishing and my other athletic pursuits, I pride myself on self sufficiency. I love mentoring new divers in the sport and empowering other women to make their own path.
My career is in biomedical and clinical medical sciences. I have been a cancer research scientist for over a decade, EMT, and recently completed my doctorate. I am interested in translational cancer and stem cell research and freediving physiology.
Sponsors: Team Red Tide Spearfishing, Crist/Gatku Polespears, Liquid Militia Clothing, Bomber Eyewear, Jetpilot, Hydroturf, Tidewater Chiropractic, Wamilton’s
Customs, Paul King Customs
Records and Awards:
2016 – IUSA Women’s Spearfishign Pending World Record – California Ling Cod
IUSA Women’s Spearfishing World Record – California White Seabass
IUSA Women’s Spearfishing World Record – African Pompano
2013 Charlie Sturgill Polespear Competition – 3rd place
2013 National Spearfishing Competition – USOA All American Team Award, 2nd place female diver
2012 Pacific Coast Championship – First woman to earn in top 5 divers
2012 – GLACD Top Diver – First woman to earn in recorded California Spearfishing History
2010 Big Ab Big Ling – Manchester, CA – Top Female Abalone Diver
2010 S.C.A.N. Biggest Abalone Competition – Top Female Diver, 4th Overall
2010 Wrightsville Beach Tournament, Wilmington NC – Top 10 divers
2010 Gatku Polespear Meet, San Diego – Second Place
2010 Los Angeles Fathomiers – Second Place Competitive Diver for entire year
*First female to earn place in top 5 divers in over 50 years of club competition history
2010 GLACD – Second Place Competitive Diver
2010 Los Angeles Fathomiers Underwater Hunting Club – Rookie of the Year 2010
2010 Steve Redding Lifetime Achievement Award
Multiple All Time Records for Reef species in L.A.F. History
2009 National Spearfishing Championship, Malibu CA, 2009
Second Place Female Diver, USOA All American Diver, Rookie of the Year
2009 GLACD Mixed Team, Pacific Coast Championship – 3rd place
2009 Big Ab Big Ling – Second Place Women’s Division
2009 Picasso Open – Southern California, Top Female Diver, Second Overall Diver
Summer Shedd
My name is Summer Shedd and I am from Miami Florida; growing up I spent a majority of my time in the Bahamas so spearfishing for my family has always been a way of life. In 2011 I won the women’s category and placed 4th overall in the Big Bang Open held in West Palm Beach Florida. However by 2013 I decided to step away from tournaments and focus on my blue water hunting, spearing abroad, and working with the organization Diving For A Cause. Reef hunting using primitive gear has always been my first love and one of my primary focuses when diving my home waters. In 2014 I landed the current women’s world record permit and cobia for the primitive gear category. I am looking forward to competing in the USOA Fresh Water Nationals as my first tournament since my competitive hiatus and the new and exciting challenges fresh water hunting may present. The biggest goal of my spearfishing career is to present myself as a positive role model for all women involved in the sport and hopefully inspire more women to become involved. I would also like to thank Koah Spearguns and DiveR for their continued support in all of my spearfishing ventures.
Samantha Mase
Samantha Mase grew up as a water baby in Coral Gables Florida.
She spent her life exploring the waterways of Miami and going to the Bahamas with her family.
After many years of scuba diving and snorkeling she met Ryan Myers.
Over the last two years she has spent lots of time in the water with him learning to freedive and spear fish.
She competed in the 2016 national championships in Arkansas helped Ryan scout for the 2015 Nationals in Tampa and was Ryans safety for months of scouting in Greece for the world championship. She is excited to compete with her friend Summer Shedd and have a great time seeing old friends at lake mead.
Julie Riffe
My name is Julie Riffe.
I started spearfishing at 12 years old, following my dad’s path. He has been a great influence in my life and motivated me to pursue my dreams.
Because I was born and raised around this sport it seemed only natural that I was going to follow in his footsteps.
I was fortunate enough to travel the world in my 20s and 30s while raising my two daughters, Kaelyn and Sierra. I shared my passion with them, spearfishing impressive game and meeting amazing people along the way. They are now spearfishing themselves and following in their mother’s footsteps.
This journey has given me so much pride in what I do and growth as a woman in the sport. I am privileged to have participated in events like National, World and Local competitions.
I am honoured and privileged to be diving with new females up-and-coming in the sport along with many other old friends at Lake Mead and wish the best of luck to all the teams representing their respective countries and looking forward to connect with everyone again.
Notable catches among others:
Wahoo, 82 lbs
Yellowfin tuna, 92 lbs
White sea bass, 42 lbs
Bluefin tuna, 67 lbs
White sea bass, 42 lbs
Halibut, 32 lbs
Mahi, 24 lbs
Notable achievements:
2x National womens team spearfishing champion (1996, 1998)
1st place womens largest fish in Malibu, 1998
IUSA world record Amaco amberjack (2005)
Currently work with my family at Riffe International manufacturing spearguns sold around the world.
