Culture
From overcoming severe health issues as a child to becoming a Guinness World Record-breaking swimmer, Merle Liivand swims without her arms to raise awareness for ocean pollution. Discover how the "EcoMermaid" has blended athletics, entrepreneurship, and activism to inspire others and protect our planet's most vital resource.
Updated 10:06 am EDT, September 9, 2025
Published 06:01 pm EDT, August 24, 2025
Styling: Dana Yurglich
Wardrobe: Yaqar Fashion House
Make-up Artist: Tatiana Zabora
Make-up: Viking Beauty Secrets
Production Assistant: Paloma Racca
Photography: Flávio Iryoda
Lady Merle Liivand could be described as an Estonian Professional Swimmer, World Champion, and environmental activist, but that misses so much more about this passionate and intriguing person. She has achieved success in many areas, not just athletics. Merle holds the world record for the longest swim with a monofin, swimming 14 hours and 15 minutes.
She didn’t stop there. During her mermaid swim, which by the way excludes the use of arms and only the single fin, she also picked up 35 pounds of trash in Miami waters. She is a designer, successful businessperson, singer, dancer, and teacher.
Merle resists the negativity of today’s culture wars, politics, and contemporary global insanity. She has a gorgeous phrase that describes her philosophy: “The Peace of Water.” She recognizes how powerful this element truly is; it sustains life and is bound within all of us. Water swirls in our muscles, brains, and spirits. Merle recognizes its dominance in our daily lives, and more importantly, she wants to help save us from ourselves.
What is fascinating about Merle is not just her documented success in athletics for her country or her grit in setting records through long-distance swimming with a monofin, but also her other remarkable achievements. Her philosophy of revering the “Peace of Water” serves as an umbrella for all her activities, which include athletics, environmental activism, singing, skincare, and architecture.
The one overriding theme for Merle, though, is for humans to recognize what we are doing to destroy water, which is a foundation of our life. She has swum in places that were filthy, dirty, and full of plastic, and this only drives her to be even better as a human and to work to protect the water. Water pollution is so pervasive that many of us forget the dangers it poses to our communities, health, and businesses.
A Swim to the Sea
Microplastics have already been detected in our bodies, through the fish we eat and the water we drink. Few people are cognizant that if microplastics enter our blood, they obviously get in our intestines and blood and may cause death. Merle is driven to inform people about the issues with water pollution and fights for all of us. When AVESSA first met Merle, we read about her other noms de guerre, such as the “EcoMermaid” or “Merle the Mermaid.” We immediately thought of stereotypes, such as fables and animated characters. But she is, of course, so much more.
Merle was born in Estonia, a small country located in Northern Europe, with her grandmother heavily influencing her. “My grandma raised me. I mean, I had my mom and dad present every single day, yes. But, I’m really into cultural roots and what develops our spirit. And I think my grandma raised my spirit.
Though physically, mentally, and economically, I was raised by my mom and dad.” Merle left Estonia when she was 20 because she knew that her spirit was bigger than her country. She needed to go somewhere where nobody knew her, where she could live the life that she wanted. She told us, “I decided that I wanted to move somewhere where the ocean is warm, and the spoken language is Spanish. I moved to Fort Lauderdale. Then I briefly lived between Fort Lauderdale and New York. And now, because the Mayor of Miami Beach proclaimed my birthday as Merle Liivand Day, I decided to move to Miami Beach for that.”
Her love for water started from birth. “Well, I was born early, at seven months, and I had lots of health problems. They thought it was because the environment affected my mom’s pregnancy. And when I was 11 years old, my lungs almost collapsed. My family doctor told me to learn to swim so I might learn to ventilate my lungs. In a sense, swimming saved me mentally, physically, spiritually, and in so many other ways.”
The Mermaid's Manifesto
Environmentalism is also in Merle’s blood. Thirty minutes after she was born, her mother had to sign her up for UNICEF’s environmental baby effect studies, and they requested to research her. “Until today, they don’t know what causes certain health problems that I have with iron levels being so low. I don’t have enough oxygen compared to other people. My health problems taught me that the only way to survive, heal, succeed, progress, and be successful was if I connected with nature. When I started seeing plastic in nature, I realized it’s not the animals’ fault. It’s our job to preserve it. I decided to inspire people to be more kind to nature. I decided to be the mermaid voice who can draw a connection between the environment and humans. I don’t consider myself every day as a human either, because of my existence.”
It is fascinating to understand how the “Peace of Water” philosophy originated. When asked what she found in the water besides sharks and fish, Merle told us the following. “I learned that I could achieve incredible things, first in my country, to represent it at world championships, break records, and become an international swimmer and athlete, all that.
But what I also found was that there are so many life similarities inside the water. The reason why there is this whole mermaid thing around me is because, in 2013, I realized that social media is affecting girls’ body image and the way they compare with each other.”
Merle’s championing of women also helped her realize that entering businesses such as swimwear and skincare would be beneficial to the environment as well as female self-image. She wants women to be at peace with themselves and their bodies, as well as counteract any negativity towards women’s bodies.
AVESSA asked Merle how she translated her traditional swimming into the long-distance Guinness records. Apparently, she was hanging out with Usain Bolt, and he completely misunderstood Merle’s swimming activities at the time. Usain thought she swam 10K with the mermaid fin. So, Merle explained, no, she has a mermaid school, and she also competes in 10K world swimming events. But he said, “No, no, no, I’m telling you, go and swim 10K with the mermaid fin.” Knowing that Usain believed that Merle was capable of doing it, his advice inspired her.
“I got so many NO’s… Everybody told me that it was impossible and to give up. ‘This is not for you,’ ‘Why do you think you deserve it’—so many jokes. I was also told that I was too pretty to swim in a world championship. It’s frustrating when someone compares my talent to my looks. The next day, after talking with Usain, I went to practice and started figuring out the whole thing. The day I was on my way to the Olympic test event, where there was a Guinness World Records referee, I saw a turtle that had a plastic fork stuck in its nose. When they pulled that out, it started bleeding. I thought: This turtle couldn’t scream for help. I have to be the person to speak up for these turtles and animals that are getting stuck on plastic and fishing nets. So, I told the referee: I’m going to do the record without using my arms to raise awareness for the animals. I took control of the situation and swam; I did it! I finished within 2 hours and 54 minutes. Everybody was in shock, including me, for sure. I did 10K, then 20K, then 30K, then 42K, and now I swim 50 kilometers without using my arms. And it’s not getting easier. It’s tough—tough paperwork, tough data collection, tough video collection. Guinness appreciates that I’m not there just to become famous and break records. I’m here to tell the story for the environment.”
Merle has already accomplished a great deal for the environment through her imagination and creativity. For example, she was involved in Nicaragua to help pass laws that forbid people from throwing dynamite to catch fish, and plastic straws are now banned in all bars and hotels. In Cyprus, Turkey, and Greece, she helped to organize water cleanup drives. In Dubai, she advises businesses to invest more in the protection of corals and mangroves. In Brazil, Merle helped politicians introduce “blue technology,” which refers to innovative, sustainable, and ocean-related technologies that promote economic growth, improved livelihoods, and jobs while preserving the health of the ocean ecosystem.
All this success does have a price. Physically, she trains like a Navy SEAL, incorporating weights into her regimen. Merle adds rocks to a swim buoy and pushes herself for miles with that heavy weight in her workouts. Mentally, it has added another level to Merle’s discipline and power over her body.
“When I swim over 10 hours, we usually have 4 to 7 kayakers who change every 2 hours to be the kayaker next to me. The sun and the wind are also very tough on them. The kayaks are because I’m not allowed to hold on to anything or touch anything. That’s the number one rule. The kayaks have my food, EpiPen, and allergy medicine in case I get stung by a jellyfish, which I am allergic to. But –like I said– that day I’m just going to that zone where nothing will stop me.”
Merle is totally in synch with the oceans and seas. And she never forgets the wildlife that inspired her, which also needs our protection. However, Merle is not a wide-eyed innocent; she knows that it takes money and success to influence ordinary people and the politicians who can create the environmental laws.
She runs her business with her family. The Liivand family is all really tuned in to support her, even though she lives on the other side of the world from Estonia. Merle’s businesses include a mermaid school, swimming products, a triathlon, and open-water schools, as well as swimming schools and skincare products based on female hormones. She also consults with governments and companies that aim to support environmental conservation. Merle has many layers, but the core is always the “Peace of Water” and the environment.
Beyond the Records
If that is not enough? Merle has also won a Hollywood global impact film award for a short movie called “Mermaid Revolution Against Micro Plastic”. This led her to work with Hollywood actors, helping some of them prepare for their films. Although she works behind the scenes, her work has been publicly lauded. Merle was knighted for her life work by a European Prince tied to Spanish and Italian royalty, whose family comes from Constantine the Great.
Merle told us this not to impress anyone, but as another factor in making her environmental purpose easier. “Definitely, this all helps my work because there are certain things that royals are working on, and I can help them gear that towards the people and teach them about the environment. Because some royals haven’t discovered the environment yet. But now I can help them. Well, they need a mermaid.”
One of the most impressive aspects of Merle is her pragmatic approach to getting people involved in her philosophy. When people want to discuss business or additional records, she encourages the meeting to take place while doing a beach cleanup or visiting coral reefs and the threats they face.
“It is important to build a climate muscle. It is important to get out there, do the work first, and understand better how to get things done. We do not live on this planet by ourselves; it is more fun to get people involved. If we can get people out of their shells, we can do something amazing. It makes me excited to breathe in this world. It is more awesome that we get people involved as a community. We can create love out of any hate, and that makes it wonderful to live in this world. You know? People do not normally want change, but they are more open-minded when they feel love, not hate.”
So, what is the future for our intrepid mermaid? Merle is busy figuring out how to take the next step in athletics and is now learning architecture. She has recently gotten involved in building Olympic pools for Estonia. She studied the filtration process and engineering to understand how it works. Interestingly enough, her work with volcanic ash, which can be used in filtering pools, also helped her modify and create new skincare products for her existing line.
Merle told us that in the future, the planet needs to breathe, calm down, and promote love more, which will help us achieve anything and everything. “You need to believe in yourself, you need willpower. Even if it’s 1% more than yesterday, it will contribute to your success. No one knows the ultimate answer to life or the climate. Sometimes we wake up and think it’s hard or we’re afraid, but instead, we need willpower to be better. You can achieve magic today. Start small with something global!” When asked if she will continue to achieve success and push her dreams of the “Peace of Water,” Merle answered with a typically upbeat and enthralling answer. “Come on, I’m a mermaid! I deal with sharks!”
Recovering from an obsession with Italian-designed menswear, Alfonso decided to take a deeper look into women’s fashion to see how our relationship among clothing, society, and business has changed. Educated as an economist with an MBA, he travels between Chicago, Miami, and Mexico on a search to see what happens next to fashion.
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