SOME people reach new heights to achieve their goals - but Tanya Streeter has plumbed new depths.

The 27-year-old, a former pupil at Roedean girls' school in Brighton, has propelled her way to the top with nothing but a wetsuit and a pair of flippers and holds five world records for freediving.

Tanya, who gained a degree at the University of Brighton, has only been free diving for three years, but she is already the top woman in the sport.

Freediving is potentially one of the most hazardous sports in the world. Competitors plunge to depths of almost 100 metres with no equipment but a mask and a pair of flippers. The object is to dive as deep as possible and make it back to the surface without losing consciousness.

It takes physical strength, enormous lung capacity and a great deal of stamina.

As water pressure builds up, the lungs deflate and the sinuses can fill with water.

Divers run the risk of burst eardrums or broken ribs under the huge water pressure.

But Tanya said: "For me, it only really hurts after a certain point in the airways and the ears. The discomfort in the chest is bearable.

"On the way up your legs feel like jelly. There's this pain from having very sore and tired muscles. But it's soon gone."

She now lives in the Cayman Islands with her husband, Paul, from Woodingdean, and her aim is to smash the world record for constant-weight freediving, which currently stands at 81 metres.

"I already hold the women's record at 67 metres, so with enough training I think I would be capable of beating that."

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