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Freediving with Tanya Streeter
 Charlotte: What is involved in the training and preparation to stay at your level?
Tanya: You could say I'm doing maintenance training at the moment although it is a little more than that. I'm not preparing for another world record at the moment but it is important to me to always feel very fit and be ready to go. I just received a call from a production company to film in the Caymans and I'm happy I'll be well prepared for it. I do two hours of cardio every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. This can include spinning or treadmill work. I have to be easy on my legs due to an injury. I used to do Lacrosse on a competitive level and ruined my knees in the process. I had numerous surgeries done and cannot run anymore. Instead I mountain bike or do inclined power walking.
I tend to wear myself out physically every day and usually cannot keep my eyes open at night, that is how I am. The other three days of the week I'll do an hour and a half of lifting weights for strength training for an hour and a half. The third day I do weight training with my husband were we mimic a dive situation. I go on a quads machine and lift about 30 percent of my own weight and I do it while breathholding. I breath for one minute and then lift the weight without breathing for a few minutes. This is called condition work. When the water warms up again I will do more cardio work in the pool. I used to overtrain and get burnt out but I'm much more balanced now and feel better physically because of it.
For Static Apnea work I lay on my bed and do breathhold exercises. I go to the gym for breathhold exercises as well. It is all about conditioning your body to low levels of oxygen and high levels of carbon dioxide.
Charlotte: What about yoga and meditation? I always read about freedivers doing a lot of that.
 Tanya: I don't do yoga. I find it very difficult on my knees. And I also do not practice concentration techniques. I get my motivation from personal drive. I am a high energy person. I'd rather be outside exercising then meditating. It is true that a lot of the techniques used in freediving are very similar to yoga but I do not practice yoga by itself. I do not do any psychological preparation either like meditation. I get my mental stimulation from my success. I have a lot willpower. When the going gets tough I tell myself that all I have to do is try a little harder. I think meditation might be able to help me though because I do tend to burn myself out quickly. I usually work out and keep going until I am totally exhausted. I am changing slowly, I used to believe it is training, not a natural skill that lead to my success but now I realize that it is not just the training, it is the mental strength as well.
Charlotte: What kind of freediving discipline to you prefer?
Tanya: Constant Ballast is my favorite and it is also the purest form of freediving. and the hardest one. I hold that record, I'm the deepest women in that discipline and that gives me a lot of satisfaction because I know how hard it was to get there. It is purely physical. After five surgeries on my legs I am very proud that I did that. My preference at any given time also depends on what I am training for and what I feel strong and good about at the time. Constant Ballast is where I'm feeling strong at the moment. The Sled is twice as hard mentally but far less physical. You go a lot deeper and that can be scary. You are at the surface and you know you are going so incredibly deep and have to rely on a piece of equipment to get you back up. If the equipment fails you can find yourself in serious trouble and might not come up again. In Constant Ballast you only rely on your body. I prefer to rely on my own body instead of equipment. It is a whole different ballgame. When I am training for the sled and I feel good about my preparation level I enjoy that too. Right now I am trained to get to 60m in constant weight and to 100m on a sled very comfortably and I keep training so that it stays that way. Read about the different disciplines here...
There is a plan for a new record but no destination yet. I think it will be held sometime between now and July. I get to decide myself when and where I try to break a world record. Then there are the competitions where I participate as part of the American Team. But no fixed dates have been set so far.
Charlotte: Do you scuba dive as well?
 Tanya: Only when I absolutely have to! I am so bad, I hold my breath! Last time I used scuba was when I was on a boat doing a shoot for Sports Illustrated. My mum was with me and she thought she had lost her watch and might have dropped it overboard so I took a tank and went after it. They found it on the boat and I got our of the water pretty quickly which was a good thing. I had to keep concentrating on breathing! Otherwise I do consider us freedivers very safe scubadiver because we are so in tune with our bodies. But I much rather freedive! I do teach *workshops to scuba divers to help them lower their air consumption. A lot of spearfishers, new swimmers and tri-athletes sign up but also regular scuba divers. I teach these workshops together with my husband. We're teaching in Austin right now and will be going to Florida for workshops as well. If you're interested in setting up workshops in your area, read the information at the end of this article or you can contact her directly at Redefine Your Limits.
Charlotte: You were inducted in the Women's Diver Hall of Fame, how did that feel?
Tanya: I was inducted in 2000 and it was the greatest honor! I highly admire the other women inductees like for example Eugenie Clarke and Sylvia Earle (world renowed marine scientists and Erica Lee Haley (best woman technical diver). Knowing I am one of them is quite an honor. I'm not sure I really achieved as much as the others but it is definitely nice to be recognized. It is also good to know that the sport has given that kind of legitimacy to and I can now use that to help increase the awareness of environmental protection of the world's oceans.
Charlotte: Any tips for us snorkellers?
Tanya: Yes, never ever ever ever do it alone! And never ever ever hyper ventilate. Hyper ventilation is dangerous. People think what we do in preparation is rapid breathing but it actually very deep breathing. We call it ventilations instead of "hyper" ventilation to avoid the confusion. It is slow, deep and long inhalations. My advice is to spend two minutes at the surface and do these deep inhalations to increase the oxygen and decrease carbon dioxide in your body. Also remember to keep all your movements fluid, slow and relaxed. And most importantly, be safe and have fun doing it!
Charlotte: Thank you Tanya!Some images by Stephen McCulloch 
* Tanya Streeter, World Champion Freediver, will be hosting "Redefine Your Limits" Freediving Clinics in Austin, Texas and the rest of the world. Contact her at "Redefine Your Limits" for moreinformation.
Complete beginner Freedivers will be taught elements of the sports origins and history together with important safety rules and procedures, basic technique theory as well as what to expect throughout breath-hold activities during a morning of classroom work. During 2 pool sessions, these students will be introduced to static apnea (breath-hold while remaining still) and Tanya maintains they will be amazed at how long they can hold their breath with such little experience. Finally, the beginners will be introduced to open water if possible. Students will already get a taste of what Tanya describes as "a surreal and peaceful underwater experience".
Experienced Freedivers, whether it be experience gleaned from deep snorkeling on annual holidays or years of competitive apnea, will have the opportunity to tap into the skills, theories, practices and regime of this six-time World Record holder in a clinic personalized to their wants, needs, goals and motivations. Opportunities to learn more about the physiology of Freediving, safety practices for advanced levels of apnea, technique for deeper dives and apnea during spearfishing, as well as the psychology of this fascinating sport will be available to experienced students. And finally these students will get a unique chance to have a World Champion apneist design a training program for their future targets.
If you want to learn about the fastest growing extreme sport of today, and in the process have the experience of a lifetime, then challenge yourself and REDEFINE YOUR LIMITS!
Read more on Freediving:
Visit our Freediving page
Visit the snorkelers page
Visit our Cayman Islands page
Tanya Streeter's favorite links:
Redefine Your Limits; Tanya Streeters Site
Free Diving Manual, Tanya Streeter
Reefball.org
Freediver.co.uk
Bluevoice.org
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