Experience: I am a professional mermaid | Life and style
I grew up in St Ives, on the Cornish coast, so as a child I spent a lot of time in the water. The sea has always fascinated me. The film Splash was a huge part of my childhood and people even called me a mermaid because I spent so much time underwater. But then I grew up.
In 2015 I was in a relationship with someone who lived in London. I was in my mid-20s and thought the big city lifestyle was what I wanted, so I decided to move to the capital to be with her. I found a job with the NHS but unfortunately my relationship soon fell apart. I didn’t have a support network in London and it was lonely. The anxiety I’d always suffered from became extreme, and I developed symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder. I couldn’t eat or sleep, had night sweats and all-day tremors. After five months in London I decided to hand in my notice and drive home to Cornwall. It was a life-saving decision.
Back in St Ives I picked up a summer job in catering and started spending more time on the beach and in the water. One evening I went out paddleboarding and as I paddled back into the harbour, I witnessed the most gorgeous sunset; the whole harbour was glowing. That’s when I realised this was where I was meant to be. I imagined how magical it would be if a mermaid swam into St Ives on an evening like this, and what a stir it would cause. Then I thought maybe I could be that mermaid.
I knew there was someone in the US who made mermaid tails and after talking it over with friends â€" some of whom thought I was mad â€" I ordered mine online. Weighing two stone, it is custom-made from silicone and neoprene, and cost me about £800.
The tail arrived in the autumn of 2015 and I did my first public swim as a mermaid the following February. I posted on Instagram that people might see a mermaid in St Ives, then I slipped into the water in my tail and swam around the harbour for about 45 minutes. There weren’t many people but some quickly spotted me â€" much to their bafflement.
Initially I thought that whenever I had a spare moment I would hop into the sea and surprise people. But it quickly captured imaginations and my appearances evolved into scheduled “wash-upsâ€.
I’ve found a secret cove where I change into my tail and swim out to sea. Rocks shelter me from view before I appear swimming towards the beach, giving the illusion that I have swum in from the middle of the ocean. I use social media to announce where and when I will be appearing and swim right up on to the beach so children and parents can talk to me and take photos.
Despite having my legs encased, swimming in the tail came very naturally to me. It does require a lot of upper body strength, though, and I’ve discovered shoulder muscles that I never knew existed.
After my appearances are over I swim back to my secret cove and either wash up on the beach or pull myself up on some rocks, depending on the tide. My partner meets me there with my clothes, so I can change out of my tail. At home I rinse it in a shallow bath before drying it as thoroughly as possible. This is crucial as tails can go mouldy and smell, so I blast it with a portable heater. My tail gets a lot of wear and tear. Luckily my other half is very good at crafting â€" when I ripped it on a rock recently she managed to fix it with a silicone gun.
My colleagues at the hospital where I work as a receptionist are incredibly supportive of my life as a mermaid. It helps explain the odd bit of residual glitter. Although I now also do private appearances, my beach wash-ups are voluntary. It’s a way of giving something back to the town that helped to heal me. In the last couple of years I’ve come to understand myself in a way I didn’t before and “mermaidingâ€, as I call it, has been a big part of that.
Anxiety will always be a part of my life but I’ve learned some really good coping mechanisms, and returning to St Ives has made me realise how much I need to be in and near the sea. It’s part of who I am. I’m often a bundle of nerves as I approach the beach, but as soon as I do my first tail flick and dive under, I’m fine.
• As told to Alice Wright
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