Few things get in the way of a mermaid on a mission. But fluttering face-first into a flotilla of plastics definitely does.
That’s why Merle Liivand, who has set five consecutive Guinness world records for swims with feet encased in a monofin, adjusted her mission: she wouldn’t just compete in the world’s waterways, she would do her part to save them.
“Without healthy water, any other success feels useless,” says the South Beach resident, who originally used the mermaid-like appendage to improve her breaststroke but now uses it, and her long-distance swims, to draw attention to the plights of the oceans.
Last April, the 33-year-old Estonian native broke her 2022 world record with a 31.13-mile swim around Biscayne Bay. But she’s not just collecting records. During the grueling 14-hour, 15-minute swim, in which she didn’t use her arms for propulsion, relying “solely on undulating the core and lower body… with the monofin/tail,” as per Guinness, she and cheering fans collected 35 pounds of trash.
“Miami is a place that has been given everything,” says Liivand, who set three of her four previous records in Miami Beach, prompting the city in 2021 to declare April 17 Merle Liivand Day. “You can live life to the fullest here, in a natural way.
“We have this ‘luxury, ocean-view’ lifestyle. But we can lose that. We have work to do on a high level.”
Liivand didn’t set out to be an eco-warrior mermaid. In fact, life as a swimmer of any sort seemed unlikely for a child born with a host of illnesses, some stemming from exposure to pollutants in the former Soviet Republic. When she was 11, a doctor suggested she take up swimming to strengthen her lungs. Just a year later, she made it to the national finals in the 50-, 100-, and 200-meter breaststroke. In the decades that followed, which included a 2013 move to Florida, she continued to battle health issues while also racking up international swimming medals.
It was during her open-water swims that Liivand came face-to-face, literally, with the microplastics, marine debris, and other pollutants that shaped her calling. Now she’s asking athletes in every arena to think beyond personal victory.
“You can’t compete for medals in waters that are too polluted to swim in,” she says—issues raised at the Rio, Tokyo, and Paris Olympic Games. Her own 2024 plans to best her Guinness record were postponed due to unsafe levels of pollutants in Biscayne Bay.
She spreads the word with in-person appearances, on social media, and through her “mermaid schools,” where children and adults can learn to swim with a monofin, and in turn care about the plight of their new playground. (She also runs several businesses, including Viking Beauty Secrets, an eco-friendly skin care line. “The mermaid life is not boring,” she quips.)
Despite the issues facing her South Florida home and the rest of the world, Liivand remains optimistic. Miami, she says, is a “climate technology hub” at the forefront of innovation.
And the open-minded people of Miami are receptive to her message. Which makes sense. “It’s an ocean city,” she says. “We should listen to a mermaid.” «
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