Author: Leo Cataldino
In memory of Rossana Majorca
First Prize for the Degree in Biological Sciences with a focus on Marine Sciences.
A little over a year ago, Rossana Majorca, world record holder in freediving and daughter of the great Enzo, left us.
The awarding of the First Prize for the Degree in Biological Sciences, with a major in Marine Sciences, named after her, aims to make a small contribution to remembering her and bringing her back to life in the simple contexts that she herself loved: the Sea with a capital M, sport, and scuba diving.
The idea for this project dates back to a few days after Rossana's death and was strongly supported by three people originally from Taranto: Leo Cataldino (assistant FIPSAS instructor of Ferrea Sub Monza as well as President of Taranto Divers Club), Antonella Prenna (journalist and diver) and Eugenio Mongelli (FIPSAS instructor and owner of De-OX TEMC),
Once authorization was obtained from Enzo Majorca, with whom the three have been long-time friends, it was only possible to realize it after Ferrea Sub Monza gave its unconditional support in October 2005.
This synergy has created a pool of companies that have all contributed to the project's success. A huge thank you to:
Iron Sub Monza ( www.ferreasub.it )
Taranto Divers Club ( www.taranto-divers.cjb.net )
Union of Monza Sports Societies ( www.ussmmonza.it )
Monza racetrack ( www.monzanet.it )
Abyss Diving Rapallo ( www.abyssdiving.it )
De-Ox Temc ( www.temc.it )
Matacchiera Studio ( www.studiomatacchiera.it )
Tethys Research Institute ( www.tethys.org )
Technisub SpA ( http://www.technisub.com/ )
Scubaportal ( www.scubaportal.it )
and to the very young pianist from Taranto
Fabio Barnaba, ( http://digilander.libero.it/triadeperfettamag/ )
who for the occasion composed and donated the opening music “Risveglio d'inverno” and the closing music “Trasparenze” which served as the soundtrack to the film entitled “ Laggiu' senti il silenzio! ” screened during the event.
The awards ceremony took place on Friday, May 12, 2006, at the "Tazio Nuvolari" press room, made available for the occasion by the Monza Racetrack, in the presence of some of the most important names in diving, from Paolo Ferraro, President of Technisub, to the National President of FIPSAS, Professor Matteoli, the management of the provincial FIPSAS of Milan, to companies such as Abyss Diving Rapallo and Scubaportal, as well as, of course, Enzo Majorca himself, the undisputed champion of deep-sea freediving, accompanied by his wife Maria.
The Graduation Prize offered by Enzo Majorca consists of a one-week research cruise aboard the Tethys Institute's vessels as part of the Ionian Dolphin Project, which takes place in the Greek waters of the Aegean Sea, coincidentally Rossana Majorca's favorite.
The high quality of the participants could not go unnoticed, so the organizers decided to make an additional small effort by offering consolation prizes to the second and third place winners as well.
Among these, Abyss Diving Rapallo offered a Nitrox and Deep Diving Course to both the first and third place winners, while Ferrea Sub Monza offered one of its courses of choice to the second place winner.
The three winners also received a Technisub regulator, kindly donated by President Paolo Ferraro.
The winner of the prize was Elisa Tomasin who proposed a thesis entitled “Composition, zonation and conservation status of coral communities in the Ras Mohammed National Park in the Red Sea”
Valentina Giussani came in second with a thesis entitled
“Analysis of Striped Dolphin Sightings During Whale Watching Activities in the Pelagos Sanctuary”
Third place went to Anna Chiara Maria Biressi, a veteran of Tethys research, with a thesis entitled
“Reproductive Biology of Crinoid Echinoderms: Morphofunctional Aspects of the Gonadal Cycle and Possible Effects of Exposure to Endocrine-Disrupting Contaminants”.
There were many moving moments during the event, especially following the projected images in which, with the voice of journalist Jolanda Granato of RTL102.5, the words that Rossana Majorca had dedicated to the book written by her father “The Sea with a capital M” flowed;
“…This is when a frame is more precious than the painting!” said Enzo Majorca.
But the most touching part was when the father wanted to make the effort to remember his own Rossana with his own words. What task could be more difficult?
“I only agreed to talk about Rossana today because talking about her is in a certain way equivalent to bringing her back to life, so it's my duty to do so,” said Enzo Majorca.
With the simplicity and dialectic that always distinguished him, he shared with each of us present some episodes of the life of a normal family: the words of a little girl, the stubbornness of an adolescent, the sweetness of maturity:
"I also owe her the decision to return to diving because on that occasion she declared her intention to attempt the deep diving record and reminded me that as a father I had to set an example!".
He also remembers his friend Gigi Ferraro, who passed away on January 6, 2006, exactly one year after Rossana, and imagines them up there, together, laughing and joking as they always did during their great and pure earthly friendship.
Warm, heartfelt applause followed Enzo Majorca's passionate remembrance of his daughter; everyone virtually embraced Enzo and Maria Majorca.
"I thank you all for everything" were the words of Enzo to whom Ferrea Sub Monza donated, through the hands of Fabrizio Brambilla (FIPSAS educational director) and Cristiano Galante (FIPSAS instructor), a plaque with the words "Thank you for having brought us together with the Sea"
And to thank him further, we promise that we will do everything we can to ensure that this is the first prize, followed by a second, a third, and so on:
We will make every human effort to continue, in the years to come, to revive Rossana's memory through these young women, who are promising marine biologists and who know how to encounter the Sea; but we will also do it for all those who were connected to Rossana, we will do it for Enzo, and we will do it for our Sea.
See you next year.
Leo Cataldino
Reproduction of the text and photos in this article, even partial, is strictly prohibited without the author's consent.
