Underwater mermaiding is a recently emerging aquatic sport that combines synchronised swimming, freediving, yoga, and artistic expression — a "slow" underwater movement activity. Mermaids must overcome buoyancy, water resistance, and the instinctive urge to breathe, all while presenting their bodies with grace and composure. Its blend of athletic challenge and visual appeal gives the sport enormous potential, and mermaiding has been gaining increasing recognition worldwide. Major international diving certification agencies such as PADI (certification agency), SSI (certification agency), and MFI have begun launching professional mermaid certification courses to capitalise on the trend. An ever-growing range of spin-off products — mermaid costumes, accessories, monofin tails, and water-friendly cosmetics — is now available in Taiwan, reflecting a market that is steadily reaching commercial scale.
Mermaiding has developed relatively maturely in Western countries, and this wave has in recent years begun sweeping across Asia. Mainland China has already 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 Center, organised by the Taiwan Freediving Development Association. Sixty-four mermaids gathered to show off their skills. Competition categories included a men's individual division (5 competitors), a women's individual division (18 competitors), and a team division (6 teams). Participants were required to hold a certified mermaid diving licence, submit a health declaration, and complete a set of specified underwater movements within their performance.
Photographers and fellow competitors on the poolside watch the athletes' performances with rapt attention.
Before the competition, every contestant pulled out all the stops: bold braided hairstyles and makeup, fish-scale body paint, and an array of props and accessories made for a spectacular entrance that delivered a full visual impact to the audience — as though real mermaid princesses and princes had come to life. Once in the water, competitors unleashed their signature moves: a "five-poison hat dance," microphone props, underwater sword dancing, rainbow flags, magic carpets, and more — all choreographed to music and alternating between joyful and graceful movements that kept the poolside audience transfixed. An underwater drone broadcast the entire underwater performance in real time, paired with an underwater sound system that allowed competitors to dance confidently beneath the surface in sync with the music.
Each competitor was required to complete the following designated elements within the allotted performance time:
- Dolphin dive
- Horizontal forward swim
- Backward somersault 360°
- Angel dive
- Water suspension (stationary hover)
- Hand-slide spiral ascent
Audience members watch the competitors' performances with focused attention.
Each element places significant demands on a mermaid performer's core muscles and back strength. The horizontal back float, horizontal side swim, and mermaid bubble ring were among the most technically demanding moves on display. The number of times a competitor surfaces to breathe serves as an indicator of their breath-control proficiency. Completion of required elements, technical execution, and synchronisation with the music all factor into the scoring.
This edition's judging panel was an illustrious lineup.
A total of 6 teams competed in the team division. The greatest challenge of team competition lies in synchronisation; underwater combination movements are the ultimate test of teamwork — a mistimed cue can easily turn a group routine into an unintended solo act. Tidiness and uniformity underwater therefore formed a key judging criterion. The Taiwan Freediving Development Association specially invited seven renowned figures in the mermaiding world to serve as judges: Mochi (Yang Xin-Yuan), Afa (Zhang Yi-Xian), Sandy (Zhou Er-Yi), CoCo (Chen Zi-Ting), Duck (Lai Xin-Ya), Zheng Ting-Yi, and Jamie (Wu Si-Yun). Each judge holds multiple roles in the field, including experienced mermaid instructor, mermaid instructor trainer, mermaid performer, underwater photographer, and underwater model.
The Broader Impact of the Mermaid Performance Competition
If we hope that a single mermaid performance competition can deliver an overnight leap forward — spawning mature, regular mermaid shows as seen overseas and providing mermaid professionals with a stable career environment — Taiwan still has a long road ahead. Yet this year's imaginative Mermaid Performance Competition opened up new possibilities for both the aquatic-activities industry and the general public. It showed that water sports are not limited to strapping on a scuba tank to admire marine life, or donning long fins (freediving) to feel the ocean meld with your very being through freediving. Now, through the art of mermaiding, one can express a completely different kind of strength and beauty. The Editor thinks: perhaps that is the most important ripple effect this competition has given us.
Related links:
- Taiwan Freediving Development Association Facebook Page
- Taiwan Freediving Development Association Instagram
- Video credits: Photographer Kevinwei IG \ mr.unclestudio IG \ mersoul IG
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