Mermaid swimming has been around for a long time, but has never been as popular as it has become in the past few years – it has exploded! There are many opportunities that have never been available before for those of us who love Mermaids, and love swimming/performing like one! However, with those opportunities, there are also safety concerns.
Our Mermaid is a trained competitive swimmer with 13 years experience in the water, with 4+ years in her tail. Please, use the following guidelines before you get into ANY water, especially with a monofin and tail.
Here are a few rules and skills to practice for fun and safe mermaiding:
- Never swim alone. Always have a buddy swim with you and/or someone watching you. This way if anything happens, they can get you the help you need.
- Don’t use a tail if you are not a strong swimmer. It is recommended that no one under the age of 7 use a tail. These are the skills that are recommended to have before using a tail:
- Float on her back for 30 seconds
- Go from floating on her front to floating on her back
- Tread water for 60 seconds
- Swim 25 yards and breathe unassisted
- Be proficient with the dolphin kick – able to swim 25 yards and breathe unassisted. The dolphin kick is the basic movement required to swim in a mermaid tail or monofin. You can see a video of the dolphin kick here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fntQH9q1xyo
- If you are not used to swimming in an area without a tail, don’t swim there with one. It’s important that you are familiar with the area, the currents, and depth and temperature of the waters. Follow all water safety rules and regulations, especially when outdoors in open water.
- Practice rolling onto your back and floating. This is a great skill to have if you are ever exhausted or feel in danger. It allows you to be completely relaxed while breathing and calling for help if needed.
- Practice taking the tail off in the pool. Practice this first in water you can stand in and then in water where you can’t touch the bottom. Once out of the tail, swim to safety or roll to your back.
Easy guidelines for buying a mermaid tail:
As with many popular things – there are often people that only care about making a buck, not about safety. The same with mermaid tails – cheaper, unsafe tails are easily found, and should be avoided. They are often made with materials that collect water, and grow heavy and drag a swimmer down. Monofins can also be made of other cheap materials like flippers attached to vinyl. So, how do you ensure that the tail you buy is safe?
- Make sure you buy from a reputable company. Most third parties or foreign sellers tend to sell dangerous tails.
- Search around for reviews. If the product does not have any reviews, look for one that does.
- Make sure the monofin is not clear and is made by a reputable company. Finnis is a great company that makes quality silicone monofins.
- Join a mermaid Facebook group. They are really good resources for all your mermaiding questions. And there is most likely a professional mer in the group as well.
- Reputable tail makers: Finfun, Mertailor, Finfolk Productions, and Aquamermaid. These makers have very safe tails in all different designs and price ranges and even materials. Great for adults and children alike.