My Key West Journal
Follow my adventures (and misadventures) as I try to make Key West ... the Mermaid Capital of the World !
Archive Date: 8/31/08
Auditioning in Key West
From around the world girls/models email me asking if they can travel to Key West for an audition. It's amazing how strong the desire is - to realize the dream of becoming a mermaid... from the young to the young at heart!. And some want-to-be mermaids haven't even seen an ocean before, let alone gone swimming and opened their eyes in saltwater. So, it is my job to select audition candidates wisely. Otherwise it would be a waste of time, money, and effort for all concerned.
Invariably candidates ask what the audition consists of and is there anything they can do to prepare for it before arriving in Key West. To answer those concerns I am spending time here to illustrate what my (initial) needs are from want-to-be mermaids
But first let me ask you to choose which scenario best depicts the definition of just what a mermaid is.
Scenario One: (which is a true story) a professional freediver who could hold her breath for 6 minutes and could dive to 170 feet on a single breath was asked to take off her dive mask and lay on the bottom of a shallow swimming pool and look up at the surface. Well, she shot to the surface coughing, crying and moaning about water getting up her nose and THAT was the end of the photo session... she would not continue.
Scenario Two: an ordinary girl who (without a mask) can do handstands underwater, hang upside down from the side of the pool, lay on the bottom of the pool and watch and laugh at the bubbles she blows race to surface... she could talk and sing underwater - upside down and sideways... it didn't matter. Water up her nose and sinuses - no big thing! Being underwater was just like being on the surface.
So, which of the two would you say was more of a waterbaby?
Which had the Right Stuff to become a mermaid? For me... it's #2 any day of the
week. So, to all you candidates wondering if this type of work is for you, here
is a small test to see if you have what it takes to make the trip to Key West.
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I have asked mermaid Kari to help me illustrate this page/update... thanks Kari
First - Holding Your Breath
Breath holding, by far, is the most important water skill
you can master and bring to the audition. A healthy young woman should be able
to hold her breath between 60 and 90 seconds. If you can't right away - do this:
10 times a day, hold your breath until it hurts and then slowly count to 10
before exhaling. And don't be stupid and do this while driving or some other
activity that needs your full attention. After one week you should be able to
hold your breath for 90 seconds any time you want.
Find an area free of distractions and noise. What is
important here is that you must take on the resolve of an athlete and not a
girly model. Long breath holding is a test of physical endurance and mental
strength. When the burning in the lungs start you have to say to yourself...
"bring it on, baby".
It's important your body position does not to put pressure
on your diaphragm. Sit up tall.
Or lay flat.
After you get your breath holding times up that reaches your physical
limits... there is a way to increase those limits even more. Before you hold
your breath take 5 really deep inhales/exhales... and later, before exhaling in
one big burst, exhale in small bursts.
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Next - Getting Water Up Your
Nose.
Do you have a swimming pool available to you? No, OK, no problem.
Do you have a bathtub available to you? Only showers available, no problem.
For this exercise you will need a large mixing bow filled with ordinary tap water and a dive mask.
For this exercise the goal is to just get used to having your eyes and nose underwater... as you do this several times open your eyes, blow bubbles and extend your breath holding times. In short, get comfortable and at ease while your face is underwater.
Next, place your dive mask on the bottom of the mixing bowl. Bend over and with the mask and your face underwater attach the mask to your head by the straps.
Keep the mask full of water when you straighten up. This will feel weird and discomforting but stick with it for a full minute or two. Breathe through your mouth... and relax as much as possible. You can do it! Stick with it.
After you mastered the above... walk around with the mask still filled with water. Your goal here is to wear the water filled mask for a full five minutes. (notice the water level at the top of the mask)
For Those with Bath Tubs
Disregard the above exercise and follow the photos below.
No cheating now... no nose clips or dive mask while looking
straight up underwater.
Keep doing this until you get your underwater times between
60 and 90 seconds...
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For those with Swimming Pools
If you are a really competitive person and enjoy pushing
your limits... don't breath hold alone! Get a friend to spot you.
Get upside down and let water up your nose...
Important...
that awful feeling of water going up your nose will lessen each and every time
you do it... by the third try your body will accept the watery condition, and by
the fourth time you should be able to remain upside down or on your back while
underwater.
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This, Ladies and Gentlemen is a true Mermaid!
Good Job Kari.
Being able to do what Mermaid Kari did above will get you to Key West. But
once you're here the true audition begins... like learning how to swim through a
shipwreck that is 30 feet deep!
This is the final test in my audition process - to see if you have what it takes
to be a true mermaid... after some training, an open ocean swim inside a
shipwreck - first with a dive mask and then without a dive mask... only real
mermaids can do this... way to go Kari !!!
Still want to audition?
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Journal Archives for 2008
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