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Tanya Streeter set the world record in NLT in 1998, with a NLT (No Limits) dive to 160m. At the time, this broke both the men’s and the women’s records and to this day the record still stands for the women.

I was fascinated to hear a little bit about this very different age in freediving, when NLT dives were all the rage and before a series of high profile accidents and deaths changed the sport forever and led the way for the development of and primary focus on the self-powered disciplines that we see today in competition.

Image: Julie Corsetti

In this episode we discuss:

Tanya was born and raised on the Cayman Islands, then on to the UK, and USA.
Living the island life and growing up in the ocean.
A meeting with Pipin Ferreras and Audrey Mestre.
Getting into record setting.
Early accidents in the deep diving scene.
Tanya’s world record dive to 160, that still stands today – how she prepared for it.
Why did Tanya leave the limelight of the competitive freedive scene?
A final homage to Audrey Mestre.
Thoughts on the Audrey Mestre documentary and LINK
Tanya never had a squeeze and why she thinks that is…
Shout out to the current crop of amazing women’s and men’s freedivers.
Tanya’s first world record was to 113m in NLT, a depth now matched in CWT by the women.
Tanya’s work in conservation and what we can do as individuals.
Tanya’s main thing now is being a mother.
Tanya’s recommended book is Untangled by Lisa Damour, Ph.D

Tanya’s Links:

Twitter Account

Image: Phillip Shearer