Becoming Ariel: Making Dreams Come True At Europe’s First Mermaid Academy

Have you ever felt like you just can’t keep walking around? Have your feet got tired of pounding the pavements on your way to work? Maybe you dream of swapping your Penney’s pumps for a fishtail and channelling your inner Ariel….no? Well that’s what people across Spain are doing at the moment as the Sirenas Mediterranean Academy opened its doors in Tarragona recently. The new school is a mermaid academy and is the first of its kind to open in Europe. It aims to “make dreams come true, regardless of age or gender” by teaching students how to embrace the mermaid within. Pupils are taught how to swim like a fish and hold their breath underwater. Co-founders of the new school, Alejandro Rodríguez Bosch and Susan Seum Pascual seem to think that a lot of people want “a unique experience in the Mediterranean Sea – to live their magical fantasy of becoming a mermaid or merman. Students learn all the most important traits of how to be a mermaid.  “Aquatic activity is one of the best ways to stay healthy,” they said. “Swimming with a tail makes large groups of muscles work together.” Not only that, but apparently, there are emotional advantages to swimming like a fish. “Mermaid training also helps to improve a person’s mood. It is not high impact so it can be practiced by anybody regardless of age. Breathing like a mermaid facilitates the return of blood to the heart and the ventilation of the lung alveoli so the activity is a complete work of toning, strengthening and oxygenation. “Our wish is that the client feels like a character of history, by living the magical experience of being a mythological creature,” Alejandro added. Beginners classes are taught in a pool before students advance to the sea.  There are two courses on offer, the mermaid baptism, or beginners, level which takes place in the swimming pool and then, when you’ve earned your tail, there is a more advanced level where you are set free to frolick in the sea. “It’s a great experience for those who love to be in the water, enjoy laughing, like to dream and stay healthy.” Priced at just 39 euros for 90 minutes for beginners and 49 euros for 90 minutes for the advanced, there is really no excuse! Now, where do we sign up…?