What things should I work on to become better at Mer swimming?

[Merman Andrew]

Hi everyone!

I'm newish to Mermaid swimming and I want to get better! I would like to work towards deep water swimming for a Mermaid convention I am attending in November, as well as generally being able to frolic around under water in any which way I choose and make it look relaxed and comfortable, like you see in many of YouTube videos of Mermaids. So far I can do the basic mermaid "stroke" and am working on a few "tricks" such as Mermaid backstroke (well like back sculling but with a tail!), side swimming, and trying to make underwater turns in a wide as well as a tight circle.

In the absence of having my own mer personal trainer (though that would be pretty cool), I thought I would pick everyone's brains here on what particular swimming skills or swimming techniques you recommend I should be working on to be a more adept and competent mer swimmer?

I might even look into taking some free diving classes as I'd love to be able to hold my breath for longer and generally feel more relaxed. I can usually swim for about 15m under water before coming for air and have occasionally been able to achieve a full 25m.

Thanks in advance!

[Mermaid Jaffa]

Me, I just like to hang upside down underwater. Though I've gotten so used to using my other goggles, the two eye cups one instead of the other type, I can only hang upside down when I'm wearing my snorkel mask. Which I find hard to breathe with, even though I had trained myself previously to get used to having my face underwater WITH the snorkel mask!

Just so peaceful to hang upside down and watch the swimmers go past, wriggle my fluke at the surface and trail my fingers along it.

Another trick I love doing is, dive to the bottom, turn around and float face up to the surface.

[Sabrina the Selkie]

I love to expel the air from my lungs so that I sink to the bottom with just a few flaps of my arms and then just roll around in the bottom of the pool for a few seconds. I do this both with and without tail and when without I splay my legs out and use them for leverage when rolling. It's a really great stretch as well as increasing comfortability in the water and breath hold.

[Sabrina the Selkie]

In tail, it looks strange and ethereal to just luxuriously roll about at the pool/ocean/lake floor.

I'm not particularly buoyant, so this may pose problems if you are. I only sink when I expel everything, but I can stay where I put myself when I expel half. Which gives me more time down there and air to blow bubble rings with from while laying at the bottom.

[suzanne86]

I love using a kickboard in the face down forward position and practicing the dolphin kick with a monofin. I vary my grips on the board, and I do 200s with each different grip. Don't need the board for kicking on my back or side. The trick is to vary the workout to make things interesting.

[Mermaid Jaffa]

Oh and swim upside down, with my face looking at the surface.

[Sabrina the Selkie]

Seconding Jaffa on that one!

[Mermaid Ankhali]

Does anybody have any tips on treading water in a tail? Or swimming through waves?


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[Mermaid Ankhali]

I'm kind of used to pool swimming. But, the ocean is on my list!


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[A_Koi_Mermaid]

I wondered this kind of thing too, especially when I first started. I watched quite a few mermaid videos to see things they like to do, tricks and turns and such. I also prefer swimming looking up at the surface, as well as side swimming. I practiced bubble rings and hearts and there are great video tutorials on that. I like getting in the shallow part of the pool and doing underwater handstands in my monofin and splashing back down.

I'm not too good at breath holding myself as far as time underwater goes, I haven't done the research into improving that. I also still swim in goggles with a nose on them...I have been a baby about trying to learn to not use them. I even have a sinus saver nose plug but I can't get over the water going down my throat feeling. :\

[Mermaid Wesley]

the best way to get more relaxed swimming around in a tail is to swim around in a tail! I like to hang out upside down, i like to move my hair around because i have too much of it... One tip for being pretty underwater is to keep your lips parted, let water in your mouth so you dont end up with tight cheeks from holding air. If you refuse to let water in your mouth, just be conscious of tension in your face. Oh and if your eyes are open pretend you can see, focus on something with your eyes or sometimes you look dead :)

[Mermaid Arabella]

the best way to get more relaxed swimming around in a tail is to swim around in a tail! I like to hang out upside down, i like to move my hair around because i have too much of it... One tip for being pretty underwater is to keep your lips parted, let water in your mouth so you dont end up with tight cheeks from holding air. If you refuse to let water in your mouth, just be conscious of tension in your face. Oh and if your eyes are open pretend you can see, focus on something with your eyes or sometimes you look dead :)

Great tips! Thank you, Wesley! :)

I will also say that I swam in just a monofin for a long time, almost a month, just to make sure I felt comfortable and confident in it. The first time I put on my tail (just trying it on, no intention of swimming) I felt a little panicked at how tight it was. I really didn't want that to happen in the water, and I really think practicing so much with just the monofin really helped. I had my first tail swim this morning, and I did not panic at all - I was just REALLY excited!! :D

[Mermaid Jaffa]

Does anybody have any tips on treading water in a tail? Or swimming through waves?


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Treading water is easy. Just don't rely on the videos of kids doing it, because that's the wrong way.

What I do is, instead of kicking with legs and hands, continue with the mermaid undulation from the chest. Vertical dolphin kick!

Sway that tail back and forth!

That way you look more natural instead of constantly kicking down with your monofin.

I only need to tread once every few seconds, instead of all the time. Once you get the hang of it, you can stay vertical with just a few tail swishes. And you can use your hands to adjust goggles, play with toys etc. Just do the vertical dolphin kick a little bit faster to stay afloat.

[Mermaid Wesley]

Treading water is easy. Just don't rely on the videos of kids doing it, because that's the wrong way.

What I do is, instead of kicking with legs and hands, continue with the mermaid undulation from the chest. Vertical dolphin kick!

Sway that tail back and forth!

That way you look more natural instead of constantly kicking down with your monofin.

I only need to tread once every few seconds, instead of all the time. Once you get the hang of it, you can stay vertical with just a few tail swishes. And you can use your hands to adjust goggles, play with toys etc. Just do the vertical dolphin kick a little bit faster to stay afloat.

I tend to just use my arms to tread In my tail. It's called sculling and I learned it for water polo. If I need my arms out of the water I take a huge breath to float better and do the dolphin wiggle :)

[Mermaid Ankhali]

Cool thanks


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[Mermaid Jaffa]

I do sculling only when I'm upside down or trying to stay underwater!

[A_Koi_Mermaid]

I haven't gotten to the point I can take my goggles on and off without sinking yet, I still use my arms to tread a bit. Same motion though, just dolphin kicking. It feels pretty natural to tread water in my monofin, it can be tiring though after a while.

[Merman Andrew]

So just an update on my training progress - I have been to the pool about 7 times now and each time I go I can tell that my breath holds and freedom of movement is getting better each time! I have a little routine I do now that seems to be helping -

I'll do about 45-60 mins lap swimming with my tail, which currently consists of underwater laps (and seeing how far I can swim on one breath) and back sculling on the surface using just my tail to propel me.

Then I move to the wave pool which is a wide pool and not as deep, and then I spend the remaining time (about 45-60 mins) working on big turns in each direction underwater, and then try to do multiple turns on one breath or combine with the opposite direction, ie a figure 8. I sometimes swim upside down and on my sides underwater, but I usually need a nose plug for this.

Also, just last week I took a beginner free diving course to improve my breath holds, and already it has really helped! During my last training session I was able to consistently achieve a 25m underwater lap, and when it came to turn training I was able to make multiple turns underwater with ease! (For anyone who is serious about improving their breath hold technique I do recommend taking a free diving course, as essentially what we are doing in mermaiding is free diving!)

I am going to keep trying to train weekly, and hopefully by November I will get some depth training in as well so that when it comes time to swim in the ocean at Mercon, I will be completely ready!



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[Mermaid Karina]

As far as breath-holding goes, I recently learned a new trick: before diving in, or attempting to swim longer at a time, inhale deeply and hold for 8 seconds. Very slowly, exhale through your lips as though you're blowing on a hot beverage until the air is entirely out of your lungs. Then inhale the same way and hold for 3 seconds, exhaling again. Do the 3 second breath holds 2 more times (3 total after the 8 sec.) and then breathe normally. This is super calming and used for anxiety management, but it will also enable you to swim twice as long and far as you would normally. It's also helpful when you know you're about to enter colder water. :P

-Mermaid Karina

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