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Thread: Aquamermaid Toronto

  1. #1

    Aquamermaid Toronto

    So! Has anyone given the new Aquamermaid (http://aquamermaid.com/) school in Toronto a try yet? I just realized they've been open for a few weeks but I hadn't heard much about it outside of the occasional news article. Their ten-session adult class is a hefty $300, so I'd love the inside scoop on them from some people who have a point of reference other than novelty. Has anyone used theirt Quebec branch?
    Last edited by SeaChange; 07-17-2015 at 06:09 PM. Reason: spelling correction

  2. #2
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    I think they are just touring TO. I'm not a fan cuz they got their start stealing mermaid lindens photos and said they where theirs and gave it to the news claiming it was theirs. Also copy and pasted her whole website. Took months helping Linden to get her stuff off the website and media.

    She's emailed me a few times asking business advice but I haven't answered ( I don't usually regardless of who it is)

  3. #3
    Ugh, that sucks, Raina. Stealing Linden's photos AND copy/posting her entire website sounds pretty fishy(pun intended ) and unprofessional for me. I think the whole idea of a mermaid swimming class is great, but this really isn't the way to go about starting and promoting a business
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  4. #4
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    $300CAD for a 10-session course?

    You think that's hefty? Syrena is charging something like $85AUD PER LESSON for her courses in Singapore (her website has since been upgraded and no longer displays the prices - perhaps Syrena can correct this info?)

    Horses for courses, and I can understand if these 'Mermaid schools' charge exorbitant amounts to get the *right* kind of clientelle in; but really...wow.

  5. #5
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    At least syrena is a pro mermaid. This lady did a photoshoot in a fabric tail and decided she was then ready to teach classes lol

    The school is constantly going viral. Ever since it started... But I feel that very much had to do with using Lindens content as they had none of their own so it came off way more established and professional than it was. I always get bad vibes from businesses that pull that because I wonder what else they'll do....

    I know two reporters who did the class for a story and at the time they both claimed there was a lot of filler. Could be changed by now.

    I get asked all the time why we don't do a school but NS doesn't really have the population to support it, insurance is sky high ( she sorta skirts her way around it in Montreal) and it would mean I'd be locked down establishing that and the venues take a huge chunk of your earnings. We do traveling mermaid lessons with a smaller ratio and I enjoy it so much more.

  6. #6
    Raina, I think they're at least semi-permanently set up here, since they're offering course blocks up to ten weeks long with no hard start dates, as well as monthly memberships. They're operating out of the Jimmie Simpson community centre in Toronto's east end.

    I'm curious because while I don't intend to invest in the costuming aspect or mermaiding (I found my way here by way of research for a book!) I would like to try it out, and I'd like some direction in my form for dolphin kick. The instructor did say in one interview she had only been mermaiding five months... I've been diving with a monofin for a year and definitely wouldn't feel qualified to teach!

  7. #7
    Hey SeaChange,

    If you would like to learn great monofin technique along with other freediving skills, I would recommend checking out Toronto's freediving club Freedive Toronto ( http://freedivetoronto.com/ )

    You learn stuff from real AIDA-trained instructors, and it's way cheaper ($50 membership and $150 for a whole year of pool access and training nights)

  8. #8
    I don't know anything about how they got started and the controversy there, but I can tell you what the stuff is like in their Toronto location.

    AquaMermaid is more fantasy-fitness, not really about learning professional mermaiding. The classes are based in orienting swimmers to the tail/monofin, and learning or improving basic front, back, and side dolphin-kick, along with having fun through dives, headstands, and some light syncro with sculling for making circle formations, doing tail high-fives with classmates etc. Keep in mind that a good number of poor or only average swimmers show up for these classes, so you'll be mixed in with swimmers of all levels right now. They say in Fall that there will be two levels to help give stronger swimmers something appropriate to their ability, and for everyone else to progress into.

    It's a great workout, but don't think that you're going to learn anything to help you mermaid professionally, really - and it's not really intended to be that. They say that beginning in fall the class sessions are going to be more straight-up fitness - full lengths of the pool, really working on getting stronger and more stamina overall. But again, it's the novelty of doing a swimming class in a tail that's on offer. The instructors are basically regular swim instructors who have been oriented to the monofin and tail, and provided with basic class outlines to follow.

    They said they plan to eventually integrate some synchro and underwater ballet-type workshops aimed at the stuff you'd use in performances, but so far there's nothing in place for that further than the idea.

    The $300 for 10 classes is pricey, but you can actually join as a $75/month member and go to all the classes you want for that price which saves you quite a bit of money if you do it that way.

    So that's the lowdown on the classes, at least.

  9. #9
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    That's interesting! Honestly I take issue with it because of them using Lindens stuff, but I still defend the school online in news articles. Mermaid businesses are just as valid as any other business out there!

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