Breathing easier

Streeter sets new free diving world record at 122 meters

PROVIDENCIALES, Turks and Caicos (AP) -- Champion free diver Tanya Streeter broke a world record Monday by descending on a single breath to 400 feet (122 meters) off the Turks and Caicos Islands.

Using a weighted sled, she dropped along a line dangled from a boat and kicked her way back to the surface. She surfaced after 3 minutes and 58 seconds, giving two thumbs up before swimming back to the boat.

Audrey Mestre, 28, died Oct. 12 after trying to reach 561 feet (168.3 meters) in the Dominican Republic.

"It feels really good!" said Street, who popped open a bottle of champagne. "I'm feeling fine, feeling tired."

Organizers said the dive set a record for both men and women. The previous women's world record as recognized by the International Association for the Development of Apnea, one of the sport's governing bodies, was 312 feet (93.6 meters), set by Canadian Mandy-Rae Cruickshank.

The record in the "variable ballast" category, in which the diver must surface on her own power using fins, marks the eighth time Streeter has set a world record. Several of those records have since fallen to others.

Streeter, a 30-year-old native of the Cayman Islands who moved to Austin, Texas, three years ago, is one of the most recognized female free divers in the world.

She made her attempt Monday about 1.5 miles (2.4 kilometers) off the west coast of the island of Providenciales in the British Caribbean islands.

She wore fins, a nose clip and a wetsuit, descending into the azure depths under sunny skies. At that spot, the sea is about 7,000 feet (2,100 meters) deep.

One the way down, she passed six safety divers spread out along the line. Two other divers using special breathing equipment waited at the bottom of the rope and for encouragement sang Elton John's "Crocodile Rock," which had became a theme song for Streeter during training.

Her husband, Paul Streeter, dove down to about 60 feet (18 meters) and followed her up, surfacing right behind her. Then they embraced and Streeter pumped her fists in the air.

"On the way up, I looked at the divers, and I gave them smiles," Streeter said.

Video cameras mounted both on Streeter's sled at the end of the weighted rope recorded her dive.

Last year, she set another world record -- since broken -- with a 525-foot (157.5-meter) plunge in the "no-limits" category. In that discipline, she rode down on the sled and resurfaced using a harness with an inflatable bag that rocketed her back to the surface.

Streeter and other competitors say they are well aware of the potential dangers.

Mestre died after plunging into deep waters near La Romana, Dominican Republic, in a "no-limits" dive with a target depth of 561 feet (168.3 meters). She was trying to break the world record of 531.5 feet (159.5 meters), set by her husband, Francisco "Pipin" Ferreras in January 2000.

 

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