Katharina Buczek
On May 7, Merle Liivand made mermaid history. She completed the farthest swim ever using a monofin and broke her own previous Guinness World Record.
The Miami Eco Mermaid started her swim at Miami Beach, Florida, and traveled just over twenty-six miles. The entire swim took Merle only eleven hours and fifty-four minutes to complete.
And this is not just the second time she has broken a world record. In fact, she is a four-time record holder with a rich background in competitive swimming and marine conservation.
Merle is from Tallinn, Estonia, where she trained in ice swimming and became a Baltic champion. Then, just over a decade ago, she moved to the states and settled in Florida.
Since making the move, Merle has trained countless people to swim like her while also advocating for clean ocean initiatives.
She was actually born with an auto-immune disease that caused her lungs to collapse. But, swimming helped her take back control over her body.
So now, she has been “fighting for Mother Earth’s lungs.”
And part of the reason why Merle swims with a monofin is to create publicity for the important cause. After all, seeing someone with their very own mermaid tail is not a common occurrence and is bound to turn some heads.
Instagram; pictured above is Merle
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