The mermaid in you

Mermaiding is not only good for a total body workout but also emotional wellbeing, writes Olivia Miwil

Mermaiding, a swimming activity using a mermaid costume tail, is another fun sport, popular especially among fairytale fans. But I chose to learn mermaiding to improve my efficiency in air consumption for diving.

Despite knowing the basics of swimming, I struggled when I first learnt the skill form a self-taught “mermaid”, Shureena Ng, in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah.

In the beginning, the lesson focused on learning dolphin kicks or butterfly strokes with both feet stuffed into a monofin or mermaid tail. For someone used to swimming with my legs free, the restricted movement made me feel like I would drown.

Therefore, during the first few lessons, I stayed at the side of the pool to feel safe.When told to swim without goggles to look more like a mermaid, the low visibility caused more stress and resulted in increased air consumption.

Ng says that in order to enjoy mermaiding, one has has to think like a mermaid who lives and breathes underwater.

“Humans are used to having a constant supply of oxygen outside the water. Changing your mindset to that of a mermaid will help you calm down and eventually make mermaiding easier,” adds Ng, who has been coaching for two years.

The trick is to maximise oxygen inhalation in the lungs before commencing with mermaiding.

Ng says that to sustain longer while swimming underwater, one releases air from the lungs only when necessary but one should also not exert oneself excessively.

She adds that mermaiding is more tiring than regular swimming due to the difference in amounts of oxygen inhaled. One is, therefore, advised to rest in between sessions.

And as with other sports, the ability to hold one’s breath longer gets better with practice.

Familiarity with the activity will also significantly reduce anxiety and helps improve performance.

PROPER GUIDANCE

While mermaiding is a fun way to learn swimming, especially among children, Ng says proper guidance is important.

“Safety is always the priority, especially in water sports. It is important for beginners to learn the basic skills such as survival floats.”

In survival float, one floats on one’s back and this technique requires less energy, “Mermaids” can therefore recovers before continuing the swim.

Once they are used to mermaiding, swimmers can focus on swimming fast or gracefully. Graceful mermaiding can eventually be applied for underwater photography but requires fine-tuning of certain movements.

It starts with one’s facial expression-to look calm, as if one is enjoying the experience of being in the water. To be a “real” mermaid, one must also not have goggles on but to open both eyes naturally while swimming.

While in the water, a swimmer with long hair has to know how to move the heir away from the face with the help of the water or her hands.

There are also beautiful “stunts” such as underwater somersaults that make mermaiding even more graceful.

Overall, Ng says, mermaiding is not only good for a total body workout but also helps with emotional wellbeing.

She adds that on average, a swimmer will have to attend between seven and 12 sessions to learn mermaiding.

Ng can be reached at her Facebook page Sabah Mermaid Shureena.