Freediving for Love and Legacy - An Athlete's Ode to Her Father

Sometimes freediving is about the experience or the competition. Sometimes, it’s about so much more.

By Jeremy Storton
Edited by Deena Lynch

Photo above of Talya Davidoff and her late father

Talya Davidoff was at work when she received a message to call home right away, the voice trembling on the other end of the line. When she called back, her sister said, “Tal, I need you to not freak out. Dad’s got 24 hours.”

Davidoff received this call days before she attempted to break four South African National records. “Two were depth, two were pool,” she said. Davidoff was half a world away and would not make it home in time even if she tried. Despite the shock of the untimely news, she told herself, “My dad would want me to keep going.” As she prepped for her first dive, thoughts of her father and the challenges they faced together welled up in her mind.

Growing up, Davidoff thought someone else was her dad. Her mother, her sisters, and Tayla herself lived far away, and she was too young to know otherwise. At the age of four, they moved closer to her father. That’s when she first remembered meeting him and started forming new memories. But these weren’t good memories. Instead, the images forged in her young mind were of a giant, angry man. “He wasn’t angry at us, but that’s how you interpret it when you’re that age,” she said. “He was just a frustrated man trying to figure out his business, and sometimes having three daughters was overwhelming for him.”

Selfie photo of Talya Davidoff and her late father

It wasn’t until her early 20s that Davidoff began to question the beliefs she held about her father. She had always thought of him as angry and scary, but she began to notice cracks forming in this story. For the first time, she recognized moments of love. Moments like when he taught her and her sisters how to clear their snorkel, “like spitting an olive pit across the room,” or when he gently and lovingly removed urchin spines from her heel.

Finally acknowledging that the math of her actual memories and her beliefs no longer added up, she realized the majority of this story was her creation. Davidoff gathered her thoughts on paper and sat down with her father for a long-overdue heart-to-heart chat.

With their relationship on the mend, she finally got to know her father, and soon realized they shared a mutual love of the water. They began to play underwater hockey and even started coaching the sport together. And, they dove together often. These experiences with her father had the most profound influence as they spurred her toward competing in freediving.

Talya Davidoff prepares to dive by talking to her dad. © Photo Andac Kazar

She considered all of this in a moment, along with the phone message, then brought it all down with her on her first national record attempt. At -55 metres, a panic attack caught her by surprise. She began crying underwater and thought to herself, “Anywhere but here… I want to be anywhere but here.”

Davidoff later attempted a static record, but couldn’t get even halfway there. She later withdrew from the competition and allowed herself to grieve. She didn’t want to disappoint her dad, but realized it was the father of her childhood memories who would have wanted her to continue. The father she knew as an adult would have said to her, “Why are you doing this to yourself now. It’s not safe. The water is going to be there another day.”

Talya Davidoff completes another successful dive in honor of her late father. © Photo Andac Kazar

At the beginning of her career, Davidoff approached competitive freediving with the same youthful and cavalier attitude she gave to parties and good times. However, the passing of her father left her with a new perspective. She began to take freediving more seriously as it had taken on an entirely new meaning. Now, every time she competes, she hears her dad’s voice say, “Hey Talyman.” She taps the tattoo on her right arm and tells him, “I miss you. I love you. I’m taking you down with me.”

Freediving has become a place where she can be with her dad and make him proud. She dives for herself, but she dives to honor him too. Every time she descends down the line, the world above grows silent and still. She remembers how much she loved him and how much he loved her. And, she remembers what it was like to be his little Talyman, a little girl following in her father’s footsteps, and sharing his love for the sea.

In 2019, at the Caribbean Cup in Roatan, Davidoff successfully broke the 60m record that had eluded her after the devastating call from home. She dedicated that dive as an ode to her father.



Watch Talya tell the full story in her own words in our new YouTube Story From the Sea.