WORLD CHAMPION FREEDIVER, TANYA STREETER SHATTERS BOTH MEN AND WOMEN'S WORLD RECORDS

MIAMI-August 17, 2002- A new Freediving World Record has been set today in the waters of Club Med Turkoise in Providenciales, Turks and Caicos. World Champion Freediver, Tanya Streeter, reached her goal depth of 160m/525ft in a total dive time of 3 minutes and 26 seconds. This dive shatters the previous women's No Limits World Record held by Canadian, Mandy-Rae Cruickshank (136m/446ft) and even surpasses the men's No Limits World Record of 154m/505ft held by Frenchman, Loic LeFerme. Streeter has clearly shown her determination and passion to prove her psychological and physiological endurance capabilities by redefining her limits! The dive was officiated by two representatives of Freediving's governing body A.I.D.A.(Association Internationale pour le Developement d'Apnée) who verified that the record was carried out in strict accordance with the No Limits regulations. Streeter also submitted to a test for banned and controlled substances as determined by the International Olympic Committiee. "This was a great day for everyone involved because we have had the chance to do something truly unique in the best possible conditions," commented Streeter. "Working so closely with Club Med, the Turks and Caicos Tourism Board and Red Bull has been a pleasure and an honor for me as an athlete. Sponsors are crucial to success and the success we had today is important for the future of Freediving." She reflected that the dive was "an amazing experience that I will never forget." She continued, "At the bottom, I blew a kiss to the ocean, for the gifts it has given me." Streeter has reflected the true meaning of Club Med spirit; having fun while accomplishing a goal! As seen on her site www.redefineyourlimits.com, Streeter has kept a detailed journal of her daily accounts with the ocean, her trainings, her social experiences, and especially her triumphs on her dives and the Club Med trapeze. She gave detailed descriptions about the sport and the equipment required as well as introducing her team and sponsors. Besides her training regime which included stretching and breathing exercises during sunset, Streeter also swam just like a mermaid in the crystal blue waters of Turks and Caicos and shared her Freediving experiences with guests of Club Med Turkoise during weekly presentations. The Turks and Caicos Tourism Board also showed Streeter and her team the beauty of its Islands. She was able to go on excursions with Big Blue Unlimited (an eco-diving adventure business) and visit O2 Technical Diving, who provided gas blending services to her deep safety team. She also visited luxurious Parrot Cay. "The Turks and Caicos Islands is known for being one of the best diving destinations in the world and we have been delighted to work with Club Med Turkoise," commented John Skippings, director of the Tourism Board and official co-sponsor of the Freediving World Record. "We are proud of Tanya Streeter and her record-breaking achievement in the clear blue waters that surround our Islands " EDITOR'S NOTES With just a single breath of air from the surface, Streeter descended down an officially measured dive rope on a weighted sled. Upon arriving at her target depth, she manually inflated a liftbag that brought her back to the surface. Pairs of safety divers were situated at 80m/262ft, 110m/360ft and 140m/459ft breathing specially blended mixed gasses, together with a pair of scuba divers at the surface and a pair at 40m/131ft. In addition to being fully equipped for their own safety as well as Tanya's, the divers carried metal rods, which they banged together at predetermined depths to let Tanya know exactly what depth she was at during the dive. Tanya completed approximately 10 training dives in the last 3 weeks during her stay at Club Med Turkoise, Turks and Caicos, each getting gradually deeper towards her goal. Born in the Cayman Islands, Tanya Streeter was educated in one of the most prominent girl's schools in Great Britain, Roedean. She discovered her love of Freediving in late 1997 when accompanying male friends who were spear fishing and complimented her on her natural ability. After twice beating men's world records in two Freediving disciplines, Streeter began to investigate the science behind the sport and was determined to train herself physically and mentally to continuously prove the natural aquatic abilities of mankind. Together with research dives made at Northwest Emergency Recompression Unit in England, and cardio/neuro physiological studies done at Oxford University, the record dive was filmed as part of a documentary series "Extraordinary People" for Channel 5 in the United Kingdom and other American network television. Streeter now lives in Austin, Texas with loving husband and supportive manager, Paul Streeter. Sponsored by Red Bull, the leader in the energy drink category and The Turks and Caicos Islands Tourism Board, Streeter has showed all of us her strength of mind and body at Club Med Turkoise, Turks and Caicos.

Although this is from August, I hadn't seen it posted and find it interesting. Tanya Streeter has clearly set the bar a bit higher(or deeper)for the men to catch her. Nice photo gallery of the attempt at this site.

Not terribly hard on the eyes, is she?

I read some other stuff about this a while back. At the depths she reaches, her lungs basically collapse due to 15+ atmospheres of pressure on her body. It's a horrific thing she puts herself through--riding down 500+ feet on a weighted sled, then inflating an air balloon and riding it back up to the surface. Another woman freediver died recently attempting a dive similar to this.

}:-)4

All those atmospheres, hard to believe its possible. I read further that the biggest danger is a shallow water black-out(above 60 feet)on the way up. It said that the upon reinflation, the lungs act in reverse, pulling O2 from the blood back into the lungs.

I find free diving fascinating. I love to SCUBA but somehow I like free diving even better. When you take a deep breath and dive down you get this really nice calm sensation- you feel like you could stay down all day. It's pretty cool to be on a reef somewhere snorkelling, look down and see some guys with SCUBA gear and then take a breath and join them. LOL, though, it kind of surprises them at first to see you down there at 20 meters.

My hat's off to this woman.

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