When I was a young girl, I was obsessed with mermaids – beautiful mythical creatures in books and movies, and gorgeous women in aquariums who waved at children and blew kisses.
I so badly wanted to be a mermaid, too. I wanted to swim leisurely in the ocean with my glowing, flowing tail trailing behind me in the blue waters.
This year, at the age of 31, I finally decided to do something about it. After all, who says childhood dreams are only for children?
Mermaiding is essentially freediving while wearing gear in the form of a mermaid tail, a type of monofin. It is an activity that requires training and serves as recreation, therapy or an outlet for marine conservation, among other things.
I signed up for and completed a hyperbaric and underwater medicine course in Singapore this past October, to learn about handling oxygen pressure and more.
Real mermaiding requires a lot of freediving skills, and I was determined to train and condition my body to breath-hold and withstand pressure changes underwater.
The next month, I finally ticked this lifelong goal off my bucket list in Phuket, a destination in Thailand renowned for its crystal-clear waters and sea sports.
Over the course of a week, I learnt and performed many mermaid tricks, from underwater backflips to front flips to wall spins. I also learnt to hold my breath underwater for more than two minutes.
I returned to Singapore with a freediving certificate, mermaid videos and one more interesting hobby under my belt.
But I also came back with something I’d neither looked for nor expected: A newfound urgency to act on climate change and environmental destruction.
