Last week, I wrote about some local efforts to reduce single-use plastics, which pose a variety of harmful impacts on marine life. After focusing on the serious side, involving researchers and businesses, I happened upon a Maine Public Radio story about a unique event designed to raise awareness about things like plastics that are threats to the marine environment: mermaiding — also a unique sport.
Last week’s MerLympics were held in Fiesch, Switzerland. The biannual event was founded in 2015 by the International Mermaid Swimming Instructors Association, although it includes opportunities for both mermen and mermaids.
A big purpose of the event is to promote the sport for both young and old. There are competitive events for those as young as 8 years old, many of which are part of one of nine participating mermaid schools. While most of the schools are in Switzerland, there is also one in France, Spain and even the United States — the Triton’s Professional Cove Mermaid School, based in Louisiana.
The competition includes five elements: figures, which includes elements like ripples, flips, spins and floating; underwater posing, which includes a pose of the athlete’s choice that must be held for a minimum of five seconds; speed, which is different for each age group; rescue, which includes dummy rescue; and ecology/freediving, where competitors have to remove as many items from the bottom as they can in a given time and depth. All of this is done while wearing some amazing costumes, which are worth looking up. Competitors fall into four different age groups: MerKids (8-10 years old), MerYouth (11-13), MerTeens (14-17) and MerAdults (18 and over).
While we don’t have MerLympics in Brunswick — that I’m aware of — cold-water swimming has recently become much more popular here as tales of the benefits of cold-water soaks have enticed more people to try it. There are even clubs like Two Maine Mermaids that organize groups swims and retreats, and many other cold-water plunges as parts of community celebrations and fundraisers. Much of the interest is due to the growing interest in hydrotherapy, the practice of using cold water to treat health conditions. The tradition originated in Nordic countries like Sweden and Finland and often combines hot and cold elements like saunas and snow rolling. It is one of the three pillars of the Wim Hof Method — a health practice that also includes specific methods of breathing and commitment.
There are certainly enough people in Maine interested in cold-water swimming that we could host our own MerLympics of sorts. Maybe it would be a good way to raise awareness about our local issues. And while cold-water therapy is typically done in water temperatures lower than 60 degrees, a temperature that will soon be exceeded at least in smaller coves on sunny days, there are still plenty of benefits to be gained by swimming in the ocean — not the least of which is an appreciation for the hardiness of all those fish, invertebrates and sea birds that are so perfectly adapted to live there, even in the coldest months of the year.
Susan Olcott is the director of operations at Maine Coast Fishermen’s Association.
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