What was your first swim like in a tail?

[TheChimera]

I have always loved the freedom i have when swimming, the seemingly weightless world that I'm exposed to when underwater, but swimming with a tail made me fall in love all over again.

Thanks for all the replies! Mine was a little embarrassing too, my first swim was in my boyfriend's pool, he swam with me too and helped out, i dared not do it in my own pool at home, since my father would not approve, so my boyfriend and his family are the only ones to know about it and support me fully, my tail was a fabric tail i had made myself from a strong-ish wire type of frame and fins made from tooling leather, my own idea lol, then the whole thing is skinned over by lycra which i painted with fabric paint, all held together by silicone sealant, which worked great if not for the frame that let me down. The central part of the frame warped when i tried to swim but held it's general shape, almost drowned a couple of times when the fabric started to take on more and more water and the fins didn't have much propulsion, but I kept going, and the moment i started relaxing a bit , it all got better and felt so insanely serene , i couldn't swim very fast but that didn't stop me from putting on my swimming goggles and watching my tail glide through the water,

so a few lessons learnt , got better ideas for a more efficient tail design, got a very sincere 'i'm proud of you for following your dreams' from my boyfriend, and I'm never going back to swimming with legs ever again! :3

[TheChimera]

My first swim as a mermaid should have been terrifying....

I was in a homemade fabric tail (not even swimsuit material, mind you, it was wool, because that's what we had laying around and no one thought "hey, not a good idea") no monofin (I don't even think there's a way to get those in Iran - I'd never seen one until I came to America), and early EARLY in the morning when it was still pretty dark still on the beach before it opened to every one (because even though I was still very young, I was old enough to be considered inappropriate by the law to be seen in such a state by unrelated males). Oh, yeah, and on a freaking beach, in the ocean, not even a nice pool.

Somehow though I didn't drown - though I did get caught by a wave at one point and dragged out a little further than I was comfortable with, but I swam back just fine. I actually remember having a lot of fun before my mom started screaming at me that I had to go. I had already been very used to swimming fully clothed in a manteau, headscarf, etc. because on public beaches, that's the only way to get into the water, so I guess the weight of the wet wool and restricted leg room didn't feel all that different.

I had to get out of the tail almost immediately after I got out of the water because my mother was paranoid that the wool would INSTANTLY shrink-wrap itself around me and cut off my circulation... After that we ran back to the car, me wearing a huge chador so no one could see that I was in underwear, and dragging a waterlogged tail behind us.

The tail did get pretty messed up from that swim though, and I never fit into it afterwards. After that we made my tails out of cotton or linen and left holes in the bottom of them for my feet so I could shuffle away on my own without being in nothing but underwear. Lol

I have the utmost respect for you, good on you for following your dreams in the face of such adversity!

[Elle]

I don't have a tail, I only have my merfin at the moment.
I grew up around water, I learnt to swim at the same time I learnt to walk. I can't remember a time when I couldn't swim even when I was very little.
And growing up with competitive swimming I'm pretty confident with my kick (even though I haven't done any competitive swimming in a very long time and my health hasn't been great since I hit 16)

I first swam with my merfin in a man made salt lake. And even though with crappy health and the fin rubbing ridiculously on my poor feet, I've never felt more free.
While I'm having to re teach myself my breath holds and the pure relaxation I felt when I was younger, just being in the water with my fin on is without a doubt the best feeling in the world. It's pure joy for me.

[TheChimera]

It's amazing to see everyone's own unique stories , and connect via our similar experiences, thank you everyone for your beautiful replies, and keep em' coming!

[Mermaid Melanie]

[QUOTE=Golden Pearl;97877]Mermaid Melanie your videos are wonderful! I vacationed in Thailand about 25 years ago and it was a pure dream! I visited a Buddhist temple late at night on the full moon and it was totally magical! There was also a festival to a sea Goddess that night and people were placing offerings in the water. Do you know what festival that might have been?
PS I found my own answer. I think it was Loy Kratong. Here's an image of the festival of Loy Krathong I found online. Although thought to honor Shiva and Buddha, it also honors Phra Mae Kong Ka (พระแม่คงคา). Kong Ka is the Thai form of Ganga, the Hindu goddess of the sacred Ganges river in India.
Attachment 15689Attachment 15691
They also release laterns at Buddhist temples [QUOTE]


Hey Golden Pearl! thanks glad you liked em ! and yes we are preparing for Loy Kratong soon ! its a lovely festival - you light your candle on the float and the ones whose lights stay lit and make it out to sea have good fortune in love - although some of the fairs at the festival can be a bit weird lol last year they had ladyboy dunking - you know you hit a target to soak someone lol … ahhh Thailand

[TheChimera]

Those lights look so romantic! I would have loved to be there, i have a brother over there in thailand at the moment, miss the bejeeezuz out of the guy, would be nice to swim there too, here are the pictures i promised from my first swim

Be gentle

[Gem Stone]

i almost died during my first swim with a tail. I was excited because my grandmother had literally just finished sewing it. we were at my uncles house and he had a deep pool. so my cousin and I got into our brand new tails and jumped right in the deep end. yeah, we were idiots. neither one of us knew what we were doing, but we thankfully landed on some pool noodles. it was cool, floating around for a bit. when I tried to adjust myself, I slipped off and sank to the bottom. I didn't understand a dolphin kick or even know what it was. all I knew was that unless I used both legs, I wasn't going anywhere, and I didn't know how to do that yet. so I sat at the bottom of the pool while I watched my cousin try to get help. It was actually pretty cool. I wasn't scared of drowning, I was amazed at how different being underwater felt with a tail on. and then I saw an old hula hoop at the bottom of the pool, so I used my hands to half swim half crawl over to it. I picked it up and swam through the hoop, feeling very ariel like. but then my lungs so politely reminded me that I needed air so I crawled over to the steps and pulled myself out of the water. my grandmother was screaming at my grandfather, the dive master and ex marine, for not saving me and he responded with "She's a fish now, can't save her from the water anymore" but he was persuaded to come swimming with us. that about sums up my first tail swim. I had no clue what I was doing, my lifeguard was having a beer, and my cousin never let go of the pool noodle

[PearlieMae]

"She's a fish now, can't save her from the water anymore"

Your grandfather must have already known about mermaids!

[sashiyoop]

Aside from the fact that I was swimming in water I couldn't see in, my first time wasn't all that nerve wrecking. The lake was glass that day, and I had been practicing swimming with my legs together with normal swim fins for a while. It took a while to figure out how to tread water with my feet together, but it was honestly one of the greatest felings in the world.

[sunrise]

My first swim in a tail was pretty strange for me. I'd practiced with my monofin a few times before, and I've known how to do the dolphin kick since second grade, but I didn't really put much thought into how it would feel to have my legs held together without being the one to do so. It was unnerving to realize that I couldn't get out of the pool, or push myself sideways off the pool wall with my foot to turn. I loved being able to swim so fast, and just the overall freedom of it all, but I spent the whole swim trying to hide my tail from my dad, who was outside and would come by the pool every so often to check on us or the filter. When he came over, I had to hold on to the ring on the edge of the pool and hold my lower body under the edge of the pool so he couldn't see. I'd follow him around like that so that he never saw me in the tail. Looking back, the whole situation is pretty funny, since my dad doesn't really mind as much as I though he would. He just rolls his eyes and teases me about it, calling me a fish and such.

[TheChimera]

My first swim in a tail was pretty strange for me. I'd practiced with my monofin a few times before, and I've known how to do the dolphin kick since second grade, but I didn't really put much thought into how it would feel to have my legs held together without being the one to do so. It was unnerving to realize that I couldn't get out of the pool, or push myself sideways off the pool wall with my foot to turn. I loved being able to swim so fast, and just the overall freedom of it all, but I spent the whole swim trying to hide my tail from my dad, who was outside and would come by the pool every so often to check on us or the filter. When he came over, I had to hold on to the ring on the edge of the pool and hold my lower body under the edge of the pool so he couldn't see. I'd follow him around like that so that he never saw me in the tail. Looking back, the whole situation is pretty funny, since my dad doesn't really mind as much as I though he would. He just rolls his eyes and teases me about it, calling me a fish and such.

I have to hide it from my father too, but he wouldn't laugh and tease, he would probably disown me. As 21 year olds aren't supposed to be doing anything he doesn't like in his opinion.

[sunrise]

I have to hide it from my father too, but he wouldn't laugh and tease, he would probably disown me. As 21 year olds aren't supposed to be doing anything he doesn't like in his opinion.

That stinks , people can be so narrow minded.

[MermaidClara]

my first swim in my tail was at my boyfriend's pool, he'd been getting pretty sick of the whole idea of me being a mermaid, when i pulled out my tail and slipped it over my monofin, then my legs his whole attitude changed which made my swim so much easier! He even took pictures and videos of me! I have a mahina monofin in my tail and i had practiced with it before in pools and the ocean on both choppy and glassy days but i still had problems with my first swim, i realised that i left way too much room for my butt and my waist, which left me with sooo much drag that after 2 hours of swimming i took my tail off and just resumed to swimming in the monofin

[TheChimera]

Yep, I'm pretty much a caged bird, or should i say a fish in a very tiny constraining bowl. Thats why I value mermaiding so much, because i break free, and even though i do it behind my father's back, i still have something that i CHOSE To do for myself

[TheChimera]

I swum at my bfs pool for the first time too, but he liked it from the get-go, so im lucky

[Echinacea]

Got my tail from Fin Fun on Friday, went to the pool Saturday morning at about 7:00 AM, didn't leave till 11:00 AM! It was wonderful! I had one lady come over and ask where I had gotten my tail from, that she had always wanted one. As I was getting out of the pool, after taking off my tail, I had one guy ask if I was working on my mermaiding skills, to which I replied 'YES!' with a huge smile. I didn't do too much, just swam back and forth, but I liked the way my tail looked in the water, it was fairly easy to put on (I had put the monofin in it at home, so I just put my feet in the monofin on the side of the pool, dropped into the pool and pulled it up.) It was very comfortable to wear - nice thick material, well sewn. So happy to finally have a tail, not just a monofin!

[Merman Arion]

Echi, we want PICTURES!!!

[mermaidm]

My first mermaid swim was like the 'perfect first swim'. I really wasn't worried, I just jumped in with my tail and started swimming. I was so surprised at how easy it was to swim like that, and I was so fast! I swam it in all day, I was obsessed, haha. From then on i was in love!

[MermaidBrandie]

When I found my oceanika on craigslist I was SOOO excited to try it out. I was really really nervous because I'm a terrible swimmer even though I LOVE being in the pool, and in the water in general. Me, my boyfriend, our roommate and our friend all went to the pool for my first swim in my merfin. I slipped on my swim socks, pulled the fin on and slid right into the deep end. It probably wasn't the smartest idea to go immediately in the deep end, but I'd been scared of it for so long (my whole life, I'm 26) that I just thought "I can do this" and went right in. I didn't even think it through, I held onto the edge for a few seconds then pushed off and dove down. It was the most amazing feeling ever, I could swim. I could swim well, and I could swim fast. I was never ever going back to normal swimming. I couldn't hold my breath very long, and my stamina wasn't up there, but I started going back to the pool two or three times a week and now I'm much better.

I just finished modifying a wetsuit to be a mermaid tail, and I wore it for the first time ever at the pool sunday to test the fit (I had to take it in). Even with the gapping, being in a tail in the water was amazing. Now that I've got it tight (might make the knee area tighter still), I can't go back to swimming without it. I wore myself out swimming in it the first time, it takes so much more effort now with the extra weight, even though it's not much. I can't wait to cover it in sequins. ^.^

[Arella]

Mine was in a teeny public pool in the middle of winter and there were little old ladies doing aerobics...