It’s what most people can only dream to be when they grow up: A real life mermaid. At Weeki Wachee Springs State Park that dream can come true.
But being a mermaid isn’t all flips, tricks and fun; it’s hard work and takes months of training, according to Weeki Wachee Springs State Park marketing and PR manager John Athanason.
We caught up with one mermaid in training to tell us all about what it takes to trade legs for a tail and preform underwater for hundreds of people.
Elizabeth Wilder has been a mermaid since auditions in January, and is working hard to prepare to swim in her first show.
When Wilder got the call that she would be a Weeki Wachee mermaid she was quietly overjoyed.
“I was volunteering at a research laboratory at school, so when I got the call I had to stay quiet. I was quietly yelling and telling all my friends, ‘I’m going to be a mermaid,’” said Wilder.
Since getting that call, Wilder has been working hard learning what it takes to be part of the magic at Weeki Wachee.
It isn’t just learning how to breathe in the depth of the springs they perform in, they’re also fighting the current coming from the deep water below.
The first thing she had to do was become scuba certified.
The spring is more than 117 feet deep. Mermaids swim about 20 feet below the surface, with a current that runs about five miles per hour. They have to dance and flip in water that’s just more than 70 degrees. And they do it all while wearing tails and using free-flowing air hoses to breathe.
Right now, Wilder is practicing her cartwheels, a move where three mermaids hold each other’s tails and make a ring underwater.
In the meantime, mermaid in training Wilder meets and greets with park guests.
“I love the kids, and seeing their smiles,” said Wilder.
“The magic of meeting mermaids is just like sitting with Santa, well kind of,” Athanason said while watching Wilder hang out with people after one of the performances.
It was all smiles and waves as people asked Wilder questions about mermaid life, and even got to touch her tail.
