Underwater mermaiding is a water sport that has been gaining momentum in recent years. It blends synchronised swimming, freediving, yoga, and artistic expression into a graceful, unhurried aquatic discipline. Mermaids must overcome buoyancy, water resistance, and the instinctive urge to breathe — all while moving with elegance and composure. Its combination of athletic challenge and visual spectacle gives the sport enormous potential, and it is increasingly being taken seriously. Major international dive certification agencies such as PADI (certification agency), SSI (certification agency), and MFI have begun launching professional mermaid certification courses to capture a share of this growing market. Spin-off products — mermaid costumes, accessories, monofin tails, and aqua-friendly cosmetics — are also multiplying year by year in Taiwan, a clear sign that the market is reaching meaningful scale.
Mermaiding is already well established in Europe and North America, and the wave has been sweeping across Asia in recent years. China has hosted multiple mermaid competitions — so what about Taiwan?
The 2023 Taiwan First Mermaid Performance Competition gets off to a lively start.
Taiwan's First Mermaid Performance Competition Makes a Stunning Debut
On 27 and 28 May 2023, Taiwan's inaugural Mermaid Performance Competition took place at the Taichung North District Citizens Sports Centre, organised by the Taiwan Freediving Development Association. Sixty-four mermaids gathered to showcase their skills. Competition categories included a men's individual group (5 competitors), a women's individual group (18 competitors), and a team group (6 teams). Participants were required to hold a mermaid diving certification, submit a health declaration, and complete a series of designated underwater movements within their performance.
Poolside photographers and fellow competitors watch the on-stage performers with rapt attention.
Before entering the water, every competitor pulled out all the stops — bold braided hair, vivid face and body paint styled like fish scales, and an array of props and accessories made for a visually stunning entrance that left audiences feeling as though they were seeing real mermaid princesses and princes. Once in the water, competitors unleashed their signature moves: a Five-Poison hat dance, a microphone routine, underwater sword dancing, rainbow flags, and a magic carpet — all choreographed to music, shifting between joyful and graceful as the melody demanded. Spectators on deck couldn't take their eyes off the show. An underwater drone livestreamed the entire performance, while an underwater sound system allowed competitors to move confidently in sync with the music.
Each competitor was required to complete the following designated elements within the allotted time:
- Dolphin-kick descent
- Horizontal forward swim
- Backward somersault 360°
- Angel descent
- Underwater hover
- Hand-glide spiral ascent
Spectators watch the competitors' performances with focused attention.
Each movement puts a professional mermaid's core and back muscles to the test. Among the most challenging skills were the horizontal back float, the horizontal side swim, and the mermaid bubble ring — all considered advanced mermaid performance techniques. The number of times a competitor surfaces to breathe reflects the level of breath-control mastery; completion of the designated elements, technical execution, and synchronisation with the music are all factored into the scoring.
This edition boasts a stellar judging panel.
Six teams competed in the team category, where the greatest challenge is undoubtedly synchronisation. Underwater combination moves are the ultimate test of teamwork — a mistimed entry can easily turn a group routine into a solo act, so underwater unison is a key criterion for the judges. The Taiwan Freediving Development Association specially invited seven renowned figures from the mermaiding world to serve as judges: 麻糬 (Yang Xin-Yuan), Afa (Zhang Yi-Xian), Sandy (Zhou Er-Yi), CoCo (Chen Zi-Ting), 鴨鴨 (Lai Xin-Ya), Zheng Ting-Yi, and Jamie (Wu Si-Yun). Between them they hold multiple roles — seasoned mermaid instructors, mermaid instructor trainers, mermaid performers, underwater photographers, and underwater models.
What This Mermaid Performance Competition Means for the Industry
If we hope that a single mermaid performance competition will trigger overnight growth — spawning the kind of regular, professional mermaid shows seen overseas and providing a stable livelihood for full-time performers — there is still a long road ahead in Taiwan. But this year's uniquely conceived competition opened up fresh possibilities for both water-activity operators and the general public. It showed that aquatic pursuits are not limited to strapping on a scuba tank to admire marine life, or slipping on long fins (freediving) to feel the ocean merge with your very being through freediving — they can now also take the form of mermaiding, a discipline that expresses an entirely different kind of strength and beauty. the Editor thinks: perhaps that is the most important ripple effect this competition has given us.
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