Making a fantasy come true

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This article was published 07/01/2016 (3648 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Like many young girls and boys who grew up with Disney’s The Little Mermaid, Michelle Wetton dreamed of life under the sea.

“I always dreamed of exploring the sea,” Wetton, manager of Blue Oasis Dive Centre and a scuba instructor, explained. “I got into diving and got to explore the ocean that way. But up until now, there wasn’t really an opportunity for little girls, or boys, to put on a mermaid tail and swim around.”

But that all changed with the rising popularity of ‘mermaid culture’ among swimming and diving enthusiasts. Wetton discovered the trend online a few years ago, and promptly got herself a monofin and mermaid tail.

“Mermaids are the stuff of fairy tales and legends,” Wetton said. “For people who are exposed to that as a child, this is kind of a fantasy come true.”

Wetton saw the potential in sharing her passion for swimming and mermaids with others while creating a business opportunity for Blue Oasis. But she was unable to just dive into the deep end.

“Naturally, there was a bit of concern (from the city) for children binding their legs together and swimming,” Wetton said. “But we went through a review process and the city approved our program.”

Blue Oasis’ Little Mermaids course takes place over three 45-minute classes at the Elmwood Kildonans Pool. It is open to children aged seven to 10 years old who have completed a minimum competency in swimming. From there, they are taught to use the monofin.

“We teach the program in shallow water, three feet,” Wetton added. “If there were any issue, they can just stand up.”

Once they’re competent with the monofin, the kids are ready to pull on the tail for the full experience.

“Looking back through the water and seeing a mermaid tail instead of legs is an amazing feeling,” Wetton said. “It’s a blast, these kids have an amazing time.”

Wetton said that swimming with a monofin involves doing a dolphin kick, a move taught in intermediate level swimming.

“It’s kind of the same kick you’d do in a butterfly stroke,” she said. Instead of using your arms and legs to propel yourself through the water, the dolphin kick relies on core movement. “We modify it slightly with the costumes. The body motion is the same.”

At the end of the Little Mermaids course, participants keep their monofins, and also receive photos of them in the mermaid get-ups, swimming underwater. The mermaid tails themselves are available for purchase at Blue Oasis, or online.

“The kids go home with some amazing memories,” Wetton said.

However, public pools in Winnipeg do not allow swimmers to bring their own pool toys, so use of the monofins and mermaid tails are restricted to backyard pools, summers at the lake, or family vacations.

While fulfilling fantasies of swimming under the sea, Wetton also believes the Little Mermaids program offers incentives for young swimmers to develop their skills.

“It’s an amazing motivational tool for kids who are in swimming lessons to get kids to move up their levels if they want to take the course,” she said.

To date, about 30 little mermaids have passed through Blue Oasis’ program. While the program is open to boys and girls, so far only girls have signed up for the course.

“We do encourage them to sign up,” she said. “We’ve had interest from boys, but no brave guys stepping forward just yet. We’ve got pink and purple tails, but we also have blue and green.”

“It’s not only fun, but it’s an amazing core work out too,” Wetton said, adding she has hopes of expanding the program for adults down the line.

The next Little Mermaids class starts on Feb. 1. For more information, call Michelle at 204-253-2583 or pop by Blue Oasis Dive Centre (1108 Henderson Hwy.).

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