The campaigning mermaid: Lindsey Cole

This month, ‘mermaid’ Lindsey Cole is attempting to break the Guinness World Record for longest distance swum using a mono fin as part of her ongoing campaign for cleaner waterways

This September, ‘mermaid’ Lindsey Cole is attempting to break the Guinness World Record for longest distance swum using a mono fin at The West Country Water Park, near Bristol, as part of her ongoing campaign for cleaner waterways.

“The current record is 50km, which would take around 15 hours to swim,” says Lindsey. “15 hours in a mono fin is an exceptionally long time. You use your entire body and the fin puts a lot of pressure on my feet, so I’ve suffered a lot of bruising and blisters. I’m a plaster master now!”

To prepare for the challenge, Lindsey – who swam the length of the Thames in a mono fin in 2018 and says she “just winged it” when it came to prep – has been training in the gym and in a fin swimming club to help with her technique.

Her River Thames swim was inspired by an experience when free diving in Indonesia. Feeling a sting on her hand, Lindsey thought she saw a jellyfish bobbing around, but it was in fact a tiny piece of plastic. “I realised I was surrounded by more plastic than fish!”

“I decided I’d swim the length of the Thames as a mermaid, towing a mermaid sculpture made from plastic bottles to highlight the plastic pandemic,” she says. “Along the way, I rescued a drowning cow and my story made its way into a tabloid. A school asked my permission to turn the story into a play, which I then made into a kids’ book The Mermaid and The Cow. It turns out that being a mermaid is a great tool to talk to kids about important environmental issues!”

“There’s a place for everyone to campaign,” she says. “I’m a sensitive, disorganised soul; I’m not great with paperwork. Being a mermaid instils magic and wonder with kids. I get my message across and they go and inspire their families and schools to look after their waterways. Plus working with pure, innocents souls returns magic back to me.”

Follow Lindsey Cole’s journey on her instagram @stompycole or lindseycole.co.uk