1 00:00:01,920 --> 00:00:06,640 Speaker 1: Welcome to brain Stuff production of I Heart Radio. Hey 2 00:00:06,680 --> 00:00:10,159 Speaker 1: brain Stuff, Lauren bog Obam Here. If you're fascinated by 3 00:00:10,160 --> 00:00:13,480 Speaker 1: mythological creatures, love to swim, and know the entire score 4 00:00:13,560 --> 00:00:17,640 Speaker 1: to The Little Mermaid, your time has officially come. Mermaid 5 00:00:17,680 --> 00:00:20,360 Speaker 1: Ing is an honest to goodness hobby and even career, 6 00:00:20,680 --> 00:00:23,480 Speaker 1: and it's poised to explode at a mermaid school or 7 00:00:23,560 --> 00:00:26,640 Speaker 1: birthday party near you. All you need is a tale 8 00:00:26,760 --> 00:00:29,800 Speaker 1: and more on that in a minute. A while. It 9 00:00:29,880 --> 00:00:31,920 Speaker 1: may seem like this is popping up out of nowhere, 10 00:00:32,200 --> 00:00:34,720 Speaker 1: mermaids and mer men have actually been at it for 11 00:00:34,880 --> 00:00:38,720 Speaker 1: years now. We spoke via email with Sheila Kaiser, lead 12 00:00:38,720 --> 00:00:42,720 Speaker 1: mermaid instructor at Aqua Mermaid in Austin, Texas. She said, 13 00:00:43,120 --> 00:00:45,559 Speaker 1: Mermaiding has been around for twenty plus years and I 14 00:00:45,560 --> 00:00:48,480 Speaker 1: think will only continue to grow in popularity. We teach 15 00:00:48,520 --> 00:00:51,040 Speaker 1: ages seven to eighty and I have all different reasons 16 00:00:51,040 --> 00:00:55,880 Speaker 1: for wanting to come than experience being a mermaid or merman. Yes, 17 00:00:55,960 --> 00:00:59,280 Speaker 1: the typical mermaid school has classes for both adults and children, 18 00:00:59,480 --> 00:01:03,880 Speaker 1: and how special events like bachelorette parties. We also spoke 19 00:01:03,880 --> 00:01:07,160 Speaker 1: by email with Kala Marama, a mermaid instructor and professional 20 00:01:07,160 --> 00:01:10,920 Speaker 1: belly dancer in the Northern Virginia area. She said, I 21 00:01:10,959 --> 00:01:13,560 Speaker 1: personally have loved mermaids since I was young, and I've 22 00:01:13,600 --> 00:01:16,480 Speaker 1: also loved the water. For children, when they have the 23 00:01:16,560 --> 00:01:19,120 Speaker 1: chance to meet a real mermaid and learned from one, 24 00:01:19,360 --> 00:01:22,000 Speaker 1: they often are very excited to do so. Adults that 25 00:01:22,040 --> 00:01:23,960 Speaker 1: are interested in mermaiding tend to do so for a 26 00:01:24,000 --> 00:01:26,960 Speaker 1: few different reasons, to live at a childhood fantasy, or 27 00:01:27,000 --> 00:01:30,240 Speaker 1: to do something different and interesting, But she notes it's 28 00:01:30,280 --> 00:01:34,039 Speaker 1: a lot harder that it sounds. Indeed, mermaiding is definitely 29 00:01:34,120 --> 00:01:38,679 Speaker 1: best done by confident swimmers. Marama explains, we know that 30 00:01:38,720 --> 00:01:41,479 Speaker 1: swimming in any capacity can be a tough workout, so 31 00:01:41,680 --> 00:01:44,280 Speaker 1: one must be a strong swimmer before putting on a tail, 32 00:01:44,560 --> 00:01:47,559 Speaker 1: as a tail adds a new level of difficulty. Tails 33 00:01:47,600 --> 00:01:50,080 Speaker 1: may weigh between fifteen and thirty five pounds that's about 34 00:01:50,080 --> 00:01:54,880 Speaker 1: seven to sixteen kilo's. Many mermaid schools require participants to 35 00:01:54,880 --> 00:01:57,760 Speaker 1: be able to pass basic swim tests, being able to 36 00:01:57,800 --> 00:02:00,360 Speaker 1: swim at least twenty five meters that's around eighty eat, 37 00:02:00,480 --> 00:02:02,760 Speaker 1: tread water for a minute, and float on your front 38 00:02:02,840 --> 00:02:06,000 Speaker 1: and your back. In a class, you'll learn the basics 39 00:02:06,000 --> 00:02:08,120 Speaker 1: of how to swim with a tail, plus things like 40 00:02:08,160 --> 00:02:10,800 Speaker 1: the mermaid high five and how to do handstands, which 41 00:02:10,840 --> 00:02:14,720 Speaker 1: soon translate into synchronized mermaid swimming skills. Some classes also 42 00:02:14,760 --> 00:02:18,919 Speaker 1: teach kids about caring for the oceans, and indeed, mermaid 43 00:02:19,000 --> 00:02:21,880 Speaker 1: swimming is a killer way to get or stay in shape. 44 00:02:22,480 --> 00:02:25,639 Speaker 1: We also spoke by email with cohed mermaid Rachel Roddick 45 00:02:25,680 --> 00:02:29,720 Speaker 1: with Aqua Mermaid Chicago. She said it offers a total 46 00:02:29,760 --> 00:02:33,120 Speaker 1: body workout from toning your glut, squads and abs, combined 47 00:02:33,120 --> 00:02:36,840 Speaker 1: with great cardio exercises working on breath control underwater. It's 48 00:02:36,840 --> 00:02:39,320 Speaker 1: a low impact sport. The benefits from the buoyant effect 49 00:02:39,320 --> 00:02:42,040 Speaker 1: of the water that takes pressure off joints, alleviating pain 50 00:02:42,160 --> 00:02:46,399 Speaker 1: and discomfort. At your first class, you usually just need 51 00:02:46,400 --> 00:02:49,240 Speaker 1: to wear a swimsuit. The school will normally supply the 52 00:02:49,240 --> 00:02:52,639 Speaker 1: monofin and the tail skin. The monophin is a piece 53 00:02:52,680 --> 00:02:55,079 Speaker 1: of equipment with foot pockets that allows you to propel 54 00:02:55,160 --> 00:02:57,640 Speaker 1: forward in the water, while the tail skin is a 55 00:02:57,680 --> 00:03:01,639 Speaker 1: complete tail that's pulled on over the monof in. If 56 00:03:01,680 --> 00:03:03,600 Speaker 1: you plan to stick with this, you may want to 57 00:03:03,600 --> 00:03:06,360 Speaker 1: buy your own. Models run from about a hundred bucks 58 00:03:06,360 --> 00:03:08,760 Speaker 1: for something basic, all the way to five hundred dollars 59 00:03:08,840 --> 00:03:13,240 Speaker 1: or even three thousand for realistic, professional grade mermaid tales. 60 00:03:14,400 --> 00:03:17,240 Speaker 1: But wait, you say you can be a professional mermaid? 61 00:03:17,760 --> 00:03:20,600 Speaker 1: You bet. Although some people take the classes just for 62 00:03:20,639 --> 00:03:24,000 Speaker 1: fun and exercise, there's a growing contingent of professional mermaids 63 00:03:24,040 --> 00:03:26,840 Speaker 1: around the world. Aqua Mermaid estimates that there are about 64 00:03:26,840 --> 00:03:29,680 Speaker 1: a thousand professional mermaids currently working in the United States. 65 00:03:30,120 --> 00:03:33,760 Speaker 1: There's presently no standard certification program that all mere people 66 00:03:33,840 --> 00:03:36,880 Speaker 1: must pass, but there are a number of mermaid conferences 67 00:03:36,920 --> 00:03:40,520 Speaker 1: held around the world every year. So how does one 68 00:03:40,560 --> 00:03:45,160 Speaker 1: pursue a mer career? Many pros become mermaids, swim instructors, 69 00:03:45,160 --> 00:03:48,600 Speaker 1: mermaid entertainers at birthday parties, events and the like, mermaid 70 00:03:48,640 --> 00:03:52,680 Speaker 1: influencers on social media, and even custom mermaid tale makers. 71 00:03:53,280 --> 00:03:56,440 Speaker 1: There are also mermaid modeling opportunities to be had for 72 00:03:56,560 --> 00:03:59,240 Speaker 1: photo shoots or on film. A friend of mine was 73 00:03:59,280 --> 00:04:01,600 Speaker 1: a Mermaid x ra in a recent episode of Hawaii 74 00:04:01,600 --> 00:04:05,840 Speaker 1: five Oh. Much like any career, there's some investment required 75 00:04:05,880 --> 00:04:09,400 Speaker 1: on the front end to become a professional mer person. First, 76 00:04:09,440 --> 00:04:11,560 Speaker 1: a potential pro must be a strong swimmer and have 77 00:04:11,600 --> 00:04:14,440 Speaker 1: a background teaching swimming or synchronized swimming if they plan 78 00:04:14,560 --> 00:04:17,560 Speaker 1: to be an instructor, and other classes can help, like 79 00:04:17,720 --> 00:04:20,640 Speaker 1: early childhood education courses if you plan on working with kids, 80 00:04:20,960 --> 00:04:29,920 Speaker 1: and business courses Mermaiding is a business after all. Today's 81 00:04:29,960 --> 00:04:32,000 Speaker 1: episode was written by Ali A. Hoyt and produced by 82 00:04:32,040 --> 00:04:34,480 Speaker 1: Tyler Clain. Brain Stuff is a production of I Heart 83 00:04:34,560 --> 00:04:36,920 Speaker 1: Radio's How Stuff Works. For wineness and lots of other 84 00:04:36,960 --> 00:04:40,280 Speaker 1: splashy topics, visit our home planet, how stuff Works dot com, 85 00:04:40,279 --> 00:04:42,520 Speaker 1: and for more podcasts from my heart Radio, visit that 86 00:04:42,520 --> 00:04:45,200 Speaker 1: I heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen 87 00:04:45,279 --> 00:04:46,159 Speaker 1: to your favorite shows.