How Can I Become a Mermaid?

With the help of specially made fins (and some swim lessons), anyone can become a mermaid or merman — there are even mer-professionals. Learn how mermaiding works in this episode of BrainStuff.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
Welcome to brain Stuff production of I Heart Radio. Hey
brain Stuff, Lauren bog Obam Here. If you're fascinated by
mythological creatures, love to swim, and know the entire score
to The Little Mermaid, your time has officially come. Mermaid
Ing is an honest to goodness hobby and even career,
and it's poised to explode at a mermaid school or

(00:23):
birthday party near you. All you need is a tale
and more on that in a minute. A while. It
may seem like this is popping up out of nowhere,
mermaids and mer men have actually been at it for
years now. We spoke via email with Sheila Kaiser, lead
mermaid instructor at Aqua Mermaid in Austin, Texas. She said,
Mermaiding has been around for twenty plus years and I

(00:45):
think will only continue to grow in popularity. We teach
ages seven to eighty and I have all different reasons
for wanting to come than experience being a mermaid or merman. Yes,
the typical mermaid school has classes for both adults and children,
and how special events like bachelorette parties. We also spoke
by email with Kala Marama, a mermaid instructor and professional

(01:07):
belly dancer in the Northern Virginia area. She said, I
personally have loved mermaids since I was young, and I've
also loved the water. For children, when they have the
chance to meet a real mermaid and learned from one,
they often are very excited to do so. Adults that
are interested in mermaiding tend to do so for a
few different reasons, to live at a childhood fantasy, or
to do something different and interesting, But she notes it's

(01:30):
a lot harder that it sounds. Indeed, mermaiding is definitely
best done by confident swimmers. Marama explains, we know that
swimming in any capacity can be a tough workout, so
one must be a strong swimmer before putting on a tail,
as a tail adds a new level of difficulty. Tails
may weigh between fifteen and thirty five pounds that's about
seven to sixteen kilo's. Many mermaid schools require participants to

(01:54):
be able to pass basic swim tests, being able to
swim at least twenty five meters that's around eighty eat,
tread water for a minute, and float on your front
and your back. In a class, you'll learn the basics
of how to swim with a tail, plus things like
the mermaid high five and how to do handstands, which
soon translate into synchronized mermaid swimming skills. Some classes also
teach kids about caring for the oceans, and indeed, mermaid

(02:19):
swimming is a killer way to get or stay in shape.
We also spoke by email with cohed mermaid Rachel Roddick
with Aqua Mermaid Chicago. She said it offers a total
body workout from toning your glut, squads and abs, combined
with great cardio exercises working on breath control underwater. It's
a low impact sport. The benefits from the buoyant effect

(02:39):
of the water that takes pressure off joints, alleviating pain
and discomfort. At your first class, you usually just need
to wear a swimsuit. The school will normally supply the
monofin and the tail skin. The monophin is a piece
of equipment with foot pockets that allows you to propel
forward in the water, while the tail skin is a
complete tail that's pulled on over the monof in. If

(03:01):
you plan to stick with this, you may want to
buy your own. Models run from about a hundred bucks
for something basic, all the way to five hundred dollars
or even three thousand for realistic, professional grade mermaid tales.
But wait, you say you can be a professional mermaid?
You bet. Although some people take the classes just for
fun and exercise, there's a growing contingent of professional mermaids

(03:24):
around the world. Aqua Mermaid estimates that there are about
a thousand professional mermaids currently working in the United States.
There's presently no standard certification program that all mere people
must pass, but there are a number of mermaid conferences
held around the world every year. So how does one
pursue a mer career? Many pros become mermaids, swim instructors,

(03:45):
mermaid entertainers at birthday parties, events and the like, mermaid
influencers on social media, and even custom mermaid tale makers.
There are also mermaid modeling opportunities to be had for
photo shoots or on film. A friend of mine was
a Mermaid x ra in a recent episode of Hawaii
five Oh. Much like any career, there's some investment required

(04:05):
on the front end to become a professional mer person. First,
a potential pro must be a strong swimmer and have
a background teaching swimming or synchronized swimming if they plan
to be an instructor, and other classes can help, like
early childhood education courses if you plan on working with kids,
and business courses Mermaiding is a business after all. Today's

(04:29):
episode was written by Ali A. Hoyt and produced by
Tyler Clain. Brain Stuff is a production of I Heart
Radio's How Stuff Works. For wineness and lots of other
splashy topics, visit our home planet, how stuff Works dot com,
and for more podcasts from my heart Radio, visit that
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