British/Caymanian world champion freediver, inducted into the Women Diver’s Hall of Fame in March 2000. For over two months from 17 August 2002 she held the overall “no limits” freediving record (greater than the men’s record) with a depth of 525 feet (160 m), which is still the women’s world record for No Limits Apnea. To honour her achievement she appeared on a set of five commemorative postage stamps distributed by the Turks and Caicos Islands where the record dive took place.
Now a presenter and public speaker, Tanya presented a documentary shown on BBC2 called Shark Therapy in which she attempted to overcome her fear of sharks. She appears in the promotional film about Plastic pollution made for UNESCO.
Tanya says that as long as she can remember, even as a pre-teen, seeing garbage of any kind in the sea has distressed me. These days, knowing how terrible plastic is for the environment and how much of it winds up polluting the world’s oceans, I feel equally distressed seeing how much plastic I myself use on a daily basis. It makes my stomach turn and I feel compelled to educate people on what simple, easy changes they can make in their lives to reduce the demand for, and use of, plastics. Being a Patron for Plastic Oceans may yet give me my loudest voice on the subject, and for that I am honoured and excited to be part of the team.