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View Full Version : Maiden swim in my 1st tail!



Mermaid Menanna
05-31-2015, 05:25 PM
Today I FINALLY got to the pool for my maiden swim. I was happy to finally get into the water, but disappointed that I was only able to manage about 30 minutes worth of swim time out of the 2 hrs I was expecting, because the pool was just too crowded. The first 30 minutes were great, a chance to get a feel for the monofin before putting on my tail... but then the kids and their parents came streaming in and omg... there wasn't any room for me to go anywhere at all. I ended up confined to a small corner of the pool where I could work on holding the sides and just flopping my tail up and down because if I had gone anywhere at all it would have taken out small children and their parents both. :(
I also was a bit surprised at how rude the people (parents of the kids) were. There were no comments made to me, but the glares from the parents and the way a few of them steered their kids in the other direction or put themselves suddenly between me and their kids as soon as the kid would point to my tail or make a comment about a mermaid... it was just very awkward to say the least. I got to make a few short laps (side to side, not lengthwise) in the pool in my tail before I was totally surrounded by people doing their own thing. They left plenty of space between each other but none seemed to care about offering me the same courtesy. I was the only adult "swimmer" which may have had something to do with it... but still. I will use my other free pass to go back next Sunday, but there is no way I will pay $20 ($10/person for me & hubby) to go there again after that. I was very disappointed that we drove almost 1 1/2 hrs each way just for that 30 minutes of actual swim time. There has to be a better way...

Aside from the people issues, I feel I did actually accomplished something in that short time. I felt a little awkward in my swimming so I will definitely need practice, but it was clear that the problem is my being SO out of shape after not having been in the water for 10 yrs. I was very surprised to find that in spite of my extra 60 lbs, I still sink like a rock in the water, lol. I struggled to float either on my stomach or on my back, and struggled even more to get my fluke to float with me. Again, part of the problem may have been the cramped space I was trying to do this in, not having the space to actually be able to "go" anywhere while floating. Floating in place is hard enough without a fin, but anytime the fin moves it propels you in the water to some degree, so I was forced to hold onto the sides of the pool to make sure I remained stationary. I did attempt to make a couple of short laps with hubby walking alongside of me so he was between me and the people, but then he had them bumping into him... so we finally gave up and came home. There was no point in sitting up on the edge of the pool with just my legs/fluke in the water. I wasn't learning anything that way.

The few short laps I was able to accomplish did tell me that I will have to make some modifications to my tail during the course of this week before I swim in it again. For starters, I will need to open holes in the corner seams on the outer edges of the fluke to allow air to pass through. The corners of the fluke kept filling with air. I also need to tighten the waist band by about 2 inches since every time I went down under water the waist of my tail dropped and I started to lose it. :( I felt kind of foolish having to pull it up every time I surfaced. And... I need to find a way to make the fluke more rigid to hold it's shape better. Because the finis foil is so small (short and narrow) the fluke kept curling up over it when I tried to swim, making for a lot of drag and feeling very awkward. I know I need to build some mid and lower body strength, desperately, but the weight of the wet tail added to that curling of the fluke made it very difficult to move around in it. I did pretty well with just the fin and not the tail, and the weight of the tail was ok once I got used to it... though that, too surprised me. I didn't expect it to be quite that heavy. The fluke got wet as I was sitting at the top step to put it on and it was very difficult to get into it once it was wet. I noticed that the liner separated from the spandex once wet, so it wasn't just 1 piece moving in the water as I had hoped, which added to the drag and weight. I will be eager to make my 2nd tail soon WITHOUT liner, and expect that to make a huge difference.

Oh, and those clear plastic snaps I used for the opening in the fluke for easy removal of the monofin... epic fail! The weight of the water popped them right open almost immediately so I had to stop and resnap it a few times. Once that was open the entire fluke filled with air and the corners of the fluke stayed out of the water while I tried desperately to get the whole thing underwater, lol. Oops! I think it's time for velcro.

Hubby has suggested we look into methods of expanding the size of my fin to help fill out the fluke. I agree with him, and think that will make a huge difference in how I am able to move in it. I'm starting to wish I had started off with a rapid fin instead of the foil... so that may be in my very near future. (need to find some money in a hurry)

Overall I am happy, going to be a busy week making modifications, and am eager to get back into the water "somewhere" as soon as possible.
Hubby was only able to snap a few crappy cell phone photos while I was holding myself into the corner working on floating in place, but at least I have something to show my tail in the water. :) Summer, warm temps, and a better swimming place aren't going to get here soon enough for me now... 30 minutes was just not enough... not even close!

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MermaidAine
05-31-2015, 06:29 PM
So sorry to hear that your maiden swim was so disappointing. I have fears of the same thing happening. I hope next weekend goes much better for you! Dont let it get you down!

Mermaid Jaffa
05-31-2015, 08:09 PM
I sometimes get that too, with the parents, the way I got round it was to ignore their kids and keep doing my own thing. They can point and scream all they want, I can always hide underwater and swim away. Usually, the parents are the ones pointing me out to their kids! Weekends are always very crowded. Even here in Australia, where it is nearly winter, its still pretty crowded on the weekends.

As for your fluke, you can get a nice Ariel tail with the Finis Foil. Just extend the fluke tips only, and each time you wriggle your fin, the fabric moves. It is a nice flowing look, if that is what you're trying to achieve.

PearlieMae
05-31-2015, 08:31 PM
First swims are always hard...And it was more of a prototype test. You sure bit off a lot! First swim in a long time, first swim in a fin (I'm assuming), and first swim in a tail with lots of new concepts, AND in a crowded pool! That's a lot of logistics to deal with!

But good for you! Great start! It can only get better from here, right? :clap:

Echidna
05-31-2015, 08:50 PM
erp.
Crowded pools are horror for anyone who wants to swim underwater (with or without tail).

It's also unsafe, because (as you noticed), people might pay attention to other surface paddlers, but they will ignore you if you swim under and be all rude and always expect you to make room for them, not the other way around, at least in my experience.

If you want to practice in peace, I highly recommend going under the week and around lunchtime if possible, and choosing a cooler sports pool (where only lapswimming is allowed) instead of a warm leisure pool (where people often merely hang out instead of swim) will help too.

I hope you will enjoy your next time more.

Mermaid Menanna
05-31-2015, 09:30 PM
First swims are always hard...And it was more of a prototype test. You sure bit off a lot! First swim in a long time, first swim in a fin (I'm assuming), and first swim in a tail with lots of new concepts, AND in a crowded pool! That's a lot of logistics to deal with!

But good for you! Great start! It can only get better from here, right? :clap:

Yes, it was a prototype test at the same time as my first swim in a tail or a fin, as well as my first time in the water in 10 yrs. I won't hold my breath about next weekend going any better than this one did.. but I will use the free swim pass the school gave me and at least give it a try. I want to swim THAT bad and it's still too cold to hit the lakes around here yet.

Mermaid Menanna
05-31-2015, 09:36 PM
erp.
Crowded pools are horror for anyone who wants to swim underwater (with or without tail).

It's also unsafe, because (as you noticed), people might pay attention to other surface paddlers, but they will ignore you if you swim under and be all rude and always expect you to make room for them, not the other way around, at least in my experience.

If you want to practice in peace, I highly recommend going under the week and around lunchtime if possible, and choosing a cooler sports pool (where only lapswimming is allowed) instead of a warm leisure pool (where people often merely hang out instead of swim) will help too.

I hope you will enjoy your next time more.

Unfortunately I didn't have much choice in where I swam today. It was this or nothing. That pool today was a 1 1/2 hr drive from home and the ONLY pool I have yet to find anywhere around here that will allow a monofin, tail, or even goggles. Put simply, my tail & fin are not welcome anywhere around here... and beggars can't be choosers. I took what I could get because I so desperately want and need to swim.
That pool doesn't offer free time swimming during the week, not that it would matter for me anyway. I don't have transportation except on the weekends. Because of my knee disability I can't drive, so I have to rely on hubby to get me where I want/need to go, and he works long hrs. By the time he gets home from work everything in regards to swimming, including the small city run beach in the next town over, is closed. Basically I'm stuck and very frustrated.

This week I will start making calls to a few hotels in the area that have indoor pools to see if I can find one that will work some arrangement with me to use their pool without needing to book/pay for a room. If that doesn't work, a friend suggested trying to find an apartment building with a pool, same thing... try to work out an affordable deal just for some pool time. All I can do is try... but try I will. Those people today are NOT going to steal my health from me by crowding me out of the only real exercise I have available to me without injuring myself or increasing my chronic pain issues. There has to be a way... a place... I just have to find it.

Mermaid Menanna
05-31-2015, 09:43 PM
I sometimes get that too, with the parents, the way I got round it was to ignore their kids and keep doing my own thing. They can point and scream all they want, I can always hide underwater and swim away. Usually, the parents are the ones pointing me out to their kids! Weekends are always very crowded. Even here in Australia, where it is nearly winter, its still pretty crowded on the weekends.

As for your fluke, you can get a nice Ariel tail with the Finis Foil. Just extend the fluke tips only, and each time you wriggle your fin, the fabric moves. It is a nice flowing look, if that is what you're trying to achieve.

There was no way to "hide underwater" because there was nowhere for me to go. I was literally boxed in. I couldn't even stretch myself out fully except in that little corner, unless I was going to swim over the top of or through a bunch of little kids with their parents.

As for the fluke... the "flowy" look is what I'm trying to get away from. The drag it created every time the sides of the fluke curled up over and around the fin made it very difficult to swim and created a LOT of drag that I didn't have when I was wearing just the fin. What I need is a more solid, rigid fluke... so will be looking through options on how to expand my fin to fill the fluke better or some way to frame the outer edges of the fluke to help it hold shape and not curl and flow around the fin so much. The idea I had to use boning didn't work... too much flexibility in that. I am considering a wire clothes hanger for wire, encased in duct tape to make a framework to border the fluke. Not sure if it will work, but will probably give it a try. If all else fails I will just have to break down and focus on selling some bead work for a while so I can afford a different monofin... something larger and a little more "stiff" than the foil. I noticed I also had issues with the straps coming off my feet with the fin, so was a challenge to keep my feet in it.

Unfortunately, after rinsing out my tail, I had to run it through the washing machine to try to get all of the chlorine out of it (which still didn't work.. it still reeks of chlorine). I noticed there is a fair amount of fabric damage in the fluke area, likely from having to stand on the bottom of the pool so much today. At this rate this tail isn't going to last very long... <sigh> I fear this is going to get expensive before I figure it all out. :-( That's not a good thing for someone who is poor.

Mermaid Jaffa
05-31-2015, 10:00 PM
One tip I've learnt, is to go into the shower and soak yourself and tail for about 10mins. Let the fabric and skin soak up the fresh water first. Then you don't go home stinking of chlorine.

I don't stand on my tail or fin. I trained myself to flip over on my back to avoid damaging them cos the pool bottom here is very rough.

There is are wetsuit and swimwear wash products that you can buy. It helps get rid of the stink and prolongs the life of your swimmers.

Mermaid Wesley
05-31-2015, 10:26 PM
^yes.

Mermaid Menanna
05-31-2015, 11:00 PM
One tip I've learnt, is to go into the shower and soak yourself and tail for about 10mins. Let the fabric and skin soak up the fresh water first. Then you don't go home stinking of chlorine.

I don't stand on my tail or fin. I trained myself to flip over on my back to avoid damaging them cos the pool bottom here is very rough.

There is are wetsuit and swimwear wash products that you can buy. It helps get rid of the stink and prolongs the life of your swimmers.

If I had soaked the tail first I never would have gotten into it, lol. I struggled when just the fluke got wet as I was putting it on. I finally got the chlorine smell out... had to wash it twice.

As for standing on it, I didn't have much choice. The water was only 3 1/2 feet deep and there was literally nowhere for me to stretch out full length in the pool. What you see in the photos was as good at it got once the people started to show up. Add to it that I was sinking like a rock, there was no other way for me to keep my head above water once I let go of the side of the pool. I agree that pool bottoms are rough... on one of my few laps I managed to scrape my arm along the bottom and it left my elbow raw and bleeding... just sort of peeled the skin right off of it. This just was not a good place for me to swim, for so many reasons. Unfortunately, it was my only option if I wanted to swim, which I do so desperately bad... and now more than ever.

I am starting to ache tonight, evidence of how badly I am out of shape and in dire need of regular swim time that I know isn't going to be possible... maybe at all this summer at the rate things are going. My arms and legs and feet all ache right now. I haven't felt this tired or "beat up" in years.

I will be fixing this tail and reserving it to pool use only once I have the green one made, and the green one will be reserved for lake use only. That's the best I can do. When the time comes that the fluke is too shredded to salvage, I will just have to cut it off and put a new fluke onto this tail.

Mermaid Jaffa
05-31-2015, 11:53 PM
If the tail is dry and you are wet, put it on in the water. Its what I do now instead of struggling into a dry tail poolside.

Get a cheap wetsuit that will keep you warm and swim in the lake.

Mermaid Menanna
06-01-2015, 11:37 AM
If the tail is dry and you are wet, put it on in the water. Its what I do now instead of struggling into a dry tail poolside.


I didn't struggle until I got to the part of the tail that had gotten wet.


Get a cheap wetsuit that will keep you warm and swim in the lake.

I have never heard of a "cheap" wetsuit, lol. But a wetsuit wouldn't do me any good unless it covered 100% of my body. The lake water temps right now are anywhere from 35 - 40 degrees in the lakes. Can we say hypothermia? Last night they issued frost & freeze warnings not real far from here, so it may be a while before it's warm enough to safely swim in the lakes.