Professional mermaids turn free-diving into a global cottage industry

Mermaiding has become a global cottage industry, with performers who train in free‑diving and stage shows propelled by shimmering silicon tails, and with pageants, conventions, retreats and meet‑ups where people practise their dolphin kicks. Katrin Gray, who performs as Mermaid Kat, began swimming in a mermaid tail while working as a scuba instructor in Phuket and in 2012 founded what the piece describes as the world’s first mermaid school; more than 12,000 students have attended her classes and workshops in Germany, Thailand and Australia.

Her beginner lessons cover safety, surface swimming and the importance of being an "ocean ambassador", and her multi‑day international retreats sell out months in advance. Performing as a mermaid requires training and carries occupational hazards: keeping the eyes open underwater blurs vision, sinus and ear infections are common, and hypothermia and sea sickness are possible, while getting out of skin‑tight silicon can be a struggle.

Tara Schwarz, known as Mermaid Tarielle, said "to do this kind of work you need to be training regularly, to work on your lung capacity", and that a calm state of mind and low heart rate affect how long a performer can stay underwater. She and Gray both stress the need for a skilled safety team: "If anything goes wrong, they are able to come in with air no matter where I am or what’s going on," Schwarz said.

Many merfolk use performances to share ocean conservation messages.

Key Topics

Culture, Mermaiding, Katrin Gray, Tara Schwarz, Mongplearn Uttama, Phuket