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I can say luckily my apartment pool loves having a mermaid, the management even leaves it open after hours on Tues, Thurs, and Sat for private practice for me. Provided I allow others to swim with me during normal hours and not make a spectacle of myself lol
Oooh that's an awesome deal, Kaguria! Private practice after-hours must be like heaven :3
Nice! I'm hoping to swim in the big wave pool near my new home down in Sydney (without the wave machine going). They are a much bigger pool facility than what I'm used to swimming at here on the Central Coast. They also have another pool with lanes, a deep end for diving and water polo. Just basically swimming free without being stuck in a lane! I rang them months ago to ask if I could bring my tail and even posted a photo of it on their fb page, they said "Yes", so I'm pretty excited at finding a new splash home so quickly.
Oh and the Sydney Aquatic Centre, where they held the Olympics, also said yes to my tail. So am very happy to have two places to swim in!
My community pool has no problem with either monofins or my tails. Even when my fabric tail accidentally got glitter in the pool (oops!). In fact, they invited me to wear my tail at the community party on Labor day. Of course now that fall is here, the pool will be closed and I don't have anywhere to swim until next spring. :(
In our city no indoor oools allow to swim with a tail
Its so sad. In Austria Mermaiding is not so much there.
Inconsistency, even well-meaning, would bother me more than a straight-up ban. I know I'd constantly be paranoid about being called out and publicly shamed. :biting nails: For now, I can enjoy my apartment complex's outdoor pool to the fullest, but I know I need to start shopping around for some water for winter.Quote:
Originally Posted by Candytails
Quote:
Originally Posted by Blondie
I am a lifeguard manager, and personally I have no problem if someone wanted to come in and swim with a tail.
The best thing to do is simply ask before you go swimming. You need to explain how the tail works, what its made of, how that you're a good swimmer with and you wont annoy anyone on purpose. The Shoreview YMCA allows me to swim in my tail as long as I don't splash anybody with my fluke and that Im careful when swimming with little kids. Im also a employee of the Shoreview YMCA, but that hasn't affected my mermaiding time there.
Asking sometimes is less than helpful.
It can come down to simply if the supervisor is a jerk or not :p
When I asked about fins at the only deeper pool we have here, I was told "no fins allowed" by the chief guard.
But reading the pool's rules later, I found fins ARE allowed in the fast lane, and if not too thronged.
(It was pretty empty when I asked)
The same pool has hours and lanes reserved for the diver club and even for mermaiding courses lately, but still will selectively hinder other people using fins, no matter if the pool is otherwise empty or not.
I'm pretty done with pools and stupid staff.
Looking into other alternatives now. I've been saving for my own pool for a while.
In normal public hours in our local swimming hall I was actually told not to DIVE as long as I did :D :D I was training to dive long distance and after I dived few times back and forth the pool one of the life-guards came to tell me that it was forbidden. I was like uhm, well, how long I'm allowed to dive? And he told me that only one time from one end to another. It was SO weird... :D
But after joining in diving club we have our own turns at that same hall and our club really loves having a mermaid as a member so they actually encourage me to swim with them, and usually they have few their own kids with them to come to check out the mermaid :) And now I can even practice my free-diving skills XD
Its a worry about shallow water blackouts. The last update of ARC lifeguarding puts some emphasis on it being bad.Quote:
Originally Posted by Merenneito Nerissa
Ooh, ooh, I sometimes swim at the Sydney Olympic Park pool too with my Oceanika! Though most of the time I swim in a privately owned pool near my house, and the lifeguards have zero problems with it.Quote:
Originally Posted by Mermaid Jaffa
Ooo! You're not the other mermaid I've heard about at Ryde are you?Quote:
Originally Posted by SeaStarShimmer
No, I live in the east. I only really go there occasionally, like a day trip kind of, but the pool there is awesome! I would love to live closer!
I swam with my monofin at a leisure centre in Claremorris, and they were fine with the monofin. We asked at the desk before we went in, and they said it was fine. ^w^ I was kind of freaking out, because the pool in my own town doesn't allow fins, nor does the indoor waterpark in Bundoran, and the one I swam with my first crappy tail in is only open in summer. I haven't used my tail there yet, though. I went yesterday, and brought the tail with me, but I was a little anxious about using it. I felt kind of embarrassed. I wanted to almost sneak by the lifeguard, but they were standing right outside the changing room lockers!
In summation, I wimped out and just used the monofin ._.
This may be a little out of topic, but do any of you think snorkeling with a mermaid tail would be allowed, or are their certain requirements to be certified?
Introverting,Quote:
Originally Posted by introverting
Most snorkel places are not monitored (if you're thinking in the open ocean). Sometimes in big tourist spots they are, like some spots on Catalina Island or if you're with a guided group or a cruise ship. If you're going on your own, it should be fine almost all the time. If you're going with some kind of guide, I would get approval on it beforehand. (I did snorkeling with my college in La Jolla Cove, a pretty touristy area, and they were cool with my mono fin but I needed a wetsuit-- it was during the winter so too cold for tail!) If there's a lifeguard where you are, it may be best to talk to them first before you start swimming just so they know-- idk if they can refuse you swimming in the ocean in a tail since it's public, though. I've swam at the beach in my tail and as long as i stuck to areas designated for swimmers (i.e. not surfer areas) the lifeguards were just fine.
Also, ocean swimming can be pretty tiring, so if there won't be a lifeguard where you are, at the very least make sure you have at least one swim buddy, and take breaks!
When I rang the pool at Ryde, the receptionist said yes, but I also made her go ask the boss in charge of all the lifeguards. When she came back to say he said yes too, I was very happy!
I've seen the boss, Andrew, sometimes at the pool. He looks happy to have me there, and as far as I know, there is no complaints from other people about my swimming. I do stay in a lane if its crowded but when its not, I treat the whole deep end like my private cove!
AHHH!!! Was listening to Wait Wait Don't Tell Me from last Saturday, and the first limerick is about this topic: http://www.npr.org/2015/06/06/412448284/limericks
Two friends of mine swim at Health Club of Concord NH. Course one happens to be a lifeguard (not employed there). Will swim there after work slows down.
Did you hear that Canadian pools were not allowing tails because scales were clogging the pool filters? Only on NPR.Quote:
Originally Posted by Merman Chatfish
Wouldn't this only be an issue for sequin tails?
I just ran into a weird case of tail and fin banning while visiting family north of Chicago. The manager told me they had tried allowing them two years ago, and the pool got overrun with people in mermaid tails, which somehow lead to them deciding they were too much of a risk and banning them. Granted this pool also doesn't allow any other swim toys or gear, including water wings of all things.
Like a mermaid feeding frenzy! This is was went through my head reading that. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bo-vnwDMDfYQuote:
Originally Posted by Ciriun
I'm picturing dozens of mermaids, like a koi pond...
Hahaha! I remember hearing this...the pool filter clogging was to make the limerick rhyme!Quote:
Originally Posted by telzey.amberdon
:lol: Yes, they obviously had to ban mermaids because they kept biting the other swimmers.
I was nibbling on Coradion, who wouldn't?
Why is it that every time I mention a pool not allowing my fin, the conversation turns to talk of sexy mermen? :eyebrows:
We can't help it. Them butts are so smexy!!Quote:
Originally Posted by Ciriun
Your so right mesister , i too agree, you need to tell them and show them what your all about, how safe it is, i swim at both my local pools here in NYC , but at first they said no, cause it the fin was to big, my Mahina fin, but i proceeded to show them my other fins and fabric tails and showed them photos and videos of us mermaids swimming together without bumping into each other or anyone getting hurt by it, now im going to keep trying for the others pools in our boroughs, there 2 pools in Queens,NY my other mersister who happens to be a lifeguard as well swim in her tail there and also atQuote:
Originally Posted by Winged Mermaid
Side note, water wings are actually a death trap for really little kids. A lot of pools ban them, if smaller kids don't have enough arm strength water wings can actually lift their arms above their heads and prevent them from treading water.Quote:
Originally Posted by Ciriun
Maybe they are worried about what the monofin is made of. A monofin like the Finis Foil made of rubber will not hurt anyone, and has no sharp edges. But a monofin made of hard plastic compound or fiberglass (e.g., Finis Shooter, Trainer, Competitor) can hurt someone else. The Shooter and Trainer have hard fiberglass blades; and the Competitor has sharp corners and edges that can act like a knife blade. A rubber monofin is like rubber bifins, except for no gap between the feet. As long as you are doing surface swimming and there are no more than two people sharing a lane, there should be no problem. My YMCA pool allows all such fins. But tail swimming is another story--maybe for reasons mentioned by others above. Don't be discouraged. Maybe a dispassionate dry-land conversation with the powers that be can help you resolve the situation.
Let me just step right in and say how much I agree and how much I hate pools that ban you from using monofins.
I live in the Midwest, and there aren't a lot of public pools in this city, especially not pools that are open year round. Getting permission to swim with a tail or monofin is like yanking teeth. "The pool is too busy today, come on a slow day", the employee says. Buddy, this is Nebraska, and it's 102 outside all summer, there isn't a single slow day for the pools around here during the summer unless its pouring ocean buckets outside.
There is one pool that is semi-close to me that has never complained about me using a monofin. In fact, my friends and I have at least one pool party there every summer, and they always let me wear it. I called ahead the first time we went to that pool, and one of the employees put me on the phone with a manager, who told me that it shouldn't be an issue and that it's easier to allow if the material is rubber and not a sharp plastic. Mine is a thick rubber, thankfully. That same manager who used to let me swim there all the time is actually someone I work with now, so occasionally we chit-chat about pool rules and similar topics.
But my question is how am I supposed to become a professional when almost none of the pools around here allow mermaid tails or monofins? How can I go swimming on a regular basis when I can't afford to get my own pool at my own house? AM I SUPPOSED TO SWIM IN THE CORNFIELDS, COME ON NOW!
My YMCA in Iowa not only has no problems with me swimming in my tail, my manager suggested I wear it for the last day of swim lessons.
I have an issue with my pool not caring what i do with my monofin as long as I swim in the lap lanes. But they're totally apprehensive about my open ended fabric tail. But if i can prove to them that I can take the tail off quickly in case of emergencies, then I'm sure I'll be in the clear. It's strange though, I would just rent the pool out for a private swim, but they don't offer that (but other pools at military bases do offer so it changes I guess). We shall see
My YMCA is a total wet blanket when it comes to mermaiding
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Any mers in Las Vegas/Henderson area know of any public pools that allow monofins or tails?
I never thought to ask before swimming. I wonder if my apartment property manager will allow it. If not I guess I'll just wait to make it until I move home to New York.
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My local pool has told me mixed things - one said no as I wouldn't be able to get out of the pool fast enough if there was a fire (?!) but the other said she was excited about the idea. I offered to rent a lane for myself or to demonstrate it to them but got no further replies on the subject. It's a bit worrying as, while I'm still learning about mermaiding, it makes me wonder if it's worth my getting a fabric tail at all. Not many places besides public pools to swim in the UK!
Not sure how else to proceed yet :/