18
c
The Island, Friday 25th July, 2003
M
Y
K
PROVIDENCIALES ISLAND, Turks and
Caicos Islands, July 24 (Reuters) - Tanya
Streeter knew it was going to be a good day
when JoJo the dolphin, the most famous resident of the Turks and Caicos Islands, rose
from the waves beside her dive boat as if to
escort her to her date with history.
This week Streeter became the first human
being to dive to 400 feet (122 metres) on one
breath of air and surface again safely, powered
only by a pair of outsized flippers.
It was the eighth time that the Cayman
Islands-born Briton had broken a world record
in the extreme sport of freediving, in which
competitors strive to reach the greatest depths
possible and resurface without breathing
equipment or, in this particular category,
buoyancy aids.
As she entered the water on Monday ahead
of her three-minute-28-second trip to the deep,
Streeter was as excited by the presence of JoJo
and two circling reef sharks as by the prospect
of the record, testimony to the remarkable
affinity she has developed with the underwater
world since taking up the sport five years ago.
“I have never seen it as conquering the
depths or beating the sea. I look at it as a privilege to be accepted in that way by nature’s
most powerful force,” said the 30-year-old
Streeter, who blows a respectful kiss at the
foot of every dive.
“I get emotional about the ocean. I love the
water, I grew up in it and I’m a complete water
baby. It’s a huge gift that I have found something I can do in an environment that not
everyone has the opportunity to see.
“The coral reefs I used to snorkel on as a
kid are not there now and it’s possible my
grandchildren will not know what a reef looks
like. With my success has come incredible
opportunity and with that has come incredible
obligation.”
MENTALCHALLENGE
Streeter has close ties to the Coral Reef
Alliance and the Whale and Dolphin
Conservation Society and says that her work
with them is every bit as important to her as
the months of mental preparation and strict
physical training required ahead of each
demanding dive.
Not that she makes light of the commitment required to succeed in a sport that places
incredible strains on the human body, not least
the pressure on the eardrums and internal
organs at such depths.
“Look at Tiger Woods. It’s extreme focus
and dedication that makes you a great athlete.
Freediving is 95 percent mental, an incredibly
mental challenge,” she said.
“But I’m not goal-driven to the point that
the record is everything. Everyone’s enjoyment and safety comes first and the record is
second. I wanted to prove it’s something that
can be done completely safely.”
Such proof was welcome. The image of the
sport took a huge hit when French freediver
Audrey Mestre drowned during an assault on
Streeter’s 525-feet ‘no-limits’ record — the
category that allows the diver to ride an inflatable device to the surface — off the
Dominican Republic last year, a tragedy that
affected the Briton deeply.
“Imagine how I felt when somebody died
trying to break my record,” Streeter said. “It
was abhorrent to me that so many risks should
be taken for the sake of a world record.”
SAFETYTEAM
Mestre was accompanied by only a handful of safety divers, compared to Streeter’s 14
on Monday.
Streeter said: “Only one person has died in
the history of the competition sport and it wasn’t a dive that was done under the same parameters as 99 percent of the freediving population. There are more dangerous sports but
there’s just a hang-up that freediving is done
in an environment we don’t spend enormous
amounts of time in.
“I’m never afraid for my life or my safety
underwater. My safety team is the best of the
best. This is not Russian roulette, or a game of
chicken and it’s not about going down there
not knowing if you can come up again.”
Monday’s dive means that Streeter now
holds all four major world records in the sport
and she followed up on Tuesday with a world
best of 115ft (35 metres) in a newer category
for diving without fins.
She and British-born husband and manager Paul will return to their home in Austin,
Texas, on Friday exhausted but delighted with
the success of a trip that has also brought a significant return for her sponsors.
Streeter admits that the overwhelming
emotion at the end of such an adventure is
relief. “It’s only a small part of me that’s this
strong. For a few months of the year, I have
made the stronger part of me dominate to an
extent that I want to achieve,” she said.
“The magnitude of it won’t sink in until I
get home. Then I’ll think, ‘Oh my God. I did
that!’”
Hamilton stars in “most difBAYONNE, France, July 23 (Reuters) Injured Tyler Hamilton described this year’s
Tour de France as “the most difficult ever”
after battling through the pain barrier to win
Wednesday’s 16th stage in Bayonne.
“After two weeks of this Tour, I can say it
has been my hardest ever,” said the 30-yearold after holding off the peloton on the final
day in the mountains to win his first stage of
the Tour.
The American broke his right collarbone
in a nasty pile-up in the first stage of the Tour
in Meaux and nobody expected him to even
last this long, let alone win a stage.
“The first week was brutal. Both on and
off the bike I was suffering,” said the CSC
team leader.
“I was not sleeping well. I just took it day
to day the first week, hoping to last until the
Popov serves warning
to Van den Hoogenband
and Thorpe
BARCELONA, July 23 (Reuters) - Ian
Thorpe and Pieter van den Hoogenband renew
their battle for supremacy on Thursday, but
past master Alexander Popov may also have
his say in the 100 metres freestyle final at the
world swimming championships.
Olympic champion Van den Hoogenband,
well beaten by Thorpe in the 200 freestyle
final, posted the fastest time in Wednesday’s
semi-finals, 48.39 seconds.
But Popov, winner of swimming’s blue
riband event at two Olympics and two world
championships, was only a whisker behind in
48.51, having led the Dutchman with the
fastest 50-metre split of 22.91.
Thorpe, by contrast, trailed sixth in his
semi-final at the 50-metre mark but accelerat ed down the return length to finish in a personal best 48.71.
Popov, who moved to Switzerland this
year after a decade in Australia, lost his
Olympic title to Van den Hoogenband at the
2000 Sydney Games.
The Russian missed the 2001 world championships because of illness but, at 31, is far
from a spent force, as he made abundantly
clear in the 4x100 freestyle relay in which he
finally anchored Russia to victory.
“I wasn’t looking at Popov, only at the yellow wall. But it’s going to be very, very tough
tomorrow because Popov is in good shape,”
Van den Hoogenband said.
THORPE SEQUENCE
Van den Hoogenband was beaten to the
100 freestyle gold at the 2001 worlds by
American Anthony Ervin, while Thorpe was
fourth in that final.
Thorpe seeks his fourth gold medal of the
championships, having taken his overall tally
of titles to 11 when anchoring Australia to victory in the 4x200 freestyle relay on
Wednesday.
He will also make his first foray on the
world stage in the 200 individual medley, an
event in which American rival Michael Phelps
is also competing. Phelps, chasing four individual titles, retained his 200 butterfly crown
on Wednesday.
Japan’s Kosuke Kitajima, with one world
record to his credit in Barcelona, will put a
second mark under threat in the men’s 200
breaststroke final.
Kitajima clocked 2:09.73, the second-
fastest time ever, in Wednesday’s semi-finals,
two days after breaking the 100 breaststroke
world record in winning Japan’s first-ever
world title.
KITAJIMACONFIDENT
Kitajima lost the 200 world record to
Dmitry Komornikov, who swam 2:09.52 in
June, but Komornikov looks less of a threat
this time, finishing well behind Kitajima in
the semi-finals.
Spain will hope its adopted favourite,
Russian-born Nina Zhivanevskaya, bring gold
in the women’s 50 backstroke However, the
European champion must first dispose of the
likes of Ilona Hlavackova of the Czech
Republic, vastly experienced German Sandra
Voelker and American defending champion
Haley Cope.
Poland’s Otylia Jedrzejczak, the world
record holder and Barcelona 100 butterfly sil ver medallist, established herself as favourite
to succeed absent Australian Petria Thomas as
women’s 200 butterfly world champion with
the fastest semi-final time of 2:08.42.
American Mary Descenza and 17-year-old
Hungarian Eva Risztov, the 400 freestyle silver medallist, are best placed to deny her.
team time trial.
“After that, I felt OK and here I am. It’s
been a hard fight for me and my team,” he
said.
Hamilton, who attacked on arguably the
most brutal climb this year, the Bagarguy
pass, and rode solo for around 100 km for victory, said he had been feeling a little better in
recent days.
“It’s still not a 100 percent,” he said. “It’s
sore but a little more solid. I have to sleep on
my back, I can’t sleep on my side and I get
sick of it a little bit.”
The American, once the right-hand man to
four-times winner Lance Armstrong, had high
ambitions in this Tour before the injury and
there is no way of knowing what he might
have achieved without the crash.