Teva was born to swim. Her parents, her peers and everyone on her immediate circle of contacts gave this answer whenever asked what was the best thing about her. Born in a small village off the coast of Sicily to two loving parents, she immediately found her calling in the form of swimming when she first laid her eyes upon the ocean. Whenever the weather was clear enough, one was bound to find Teva somewhere in the beach swimming.

Thus, it is needless to say that when she grew up she pursued a career out of her love. She quickly became a rising star, and by age 15 she was a regional middle-school champion in three different categories, and 3 years later she conquered the national stage as a senior in high-school. After graduating, she studied sports science while also juggling with being an active member of Italy's Olympic swimming team. She was on track to obtain multiple gold medals, but the stars aligned to bring misfortune to her and her family.

At age 25 she was the victim of a great white shark attack off the coast of California while on a visit to the US for a swimming exhibition. She survived, but her lower extremities did not. When she woke up, she found herself in the hospital bed, her legs amputated. Suddenly having lost her ability to walk, much less to swim, reduced her to a shell of her former self. She would not talk to her family nor her friends, and would barely touch her meals. She spent most of the time looking at the view of the ocean from the window to her hospital room, lamenting her fate. 15 days were all she could take before she dragged her body off the hospital bed and onto a wheelchair, unbeknownst to the nurses, and wheeled herself to the window from where she climbed and jumped. One of her last thoughts was how the weightlessness of falling reminded her so much of swimming, the thought of which brought a smile to her face.