The first time Marta Hodul Lenton tried finswimming it was as "awkward as heck" but after a couple of years training it is now "like flying".
The hours spent in the pool are paying off with the 49-year-old from Hobart now training to compete in the Finswimming World Championship in Egypt later this year.
Finswimming uses a monofin or bifin to swim on the water's surface.
Alternatively, a competitor will hold their breath and swim underwater for 50 metres, a technique called apnoea finswimming.
In monofin swimming, arms are extended above the swimmer's head in a dive-like position and not used. The swimmer moves "mermaid-like" and relies upon leg and abdominal strength to speed through water.
Ms Hodul Lenton's "flying" description of the sport is a far-cry from her initial experience of holding onto the pool edge after swimming just 10 metres.
'People flying up and down the pool'
What first presented as an unusual sight at her local pool has become a loved sport for Ms Hodul Lenton, who now finswims three times a week and competes as part of the Tasmanian finswimming team.
She is one of 21 finswimmers in Tasmania.
When she joined in February 2021, she was initially drawn by the speed and look of the sport.
"I saw these people flying up and down the pool and I thought, 'I want to have a look at that'," Ms Hodul Lenton said.
"I got in, I had a go, it was tough, but I got the hang of it with help and encouragement."
Ms Hodul Lenton said it was a beautiful sport that has provided many benefits.
"From the tips of your fingers to the tips of your toes, you're working," Ms Hodul Lenton said.
"It's the physical fitness, but it's also so great for your mental health and that's probably half the reason I'm still coming.
"I feel it when I don't swim."
The keen swimmer ranks in the top 10 finswimmers in Australia for her 45 to 54 age group and recently recorded a personal best at the Australian finswimming championship.
"I never envisaged doing something like this in my life, but it's wonderful," Ms Hodul Lenton said.
If selected for the world championships, she will compete in the 50 to 54 age group.
In good hands
For 35 years, Helen Lane has dedicated thousands of hours to standing poolside and training generations of Australian finswimmers.
"I prefer to watch and stay on the side with a whip," Ms Lane, the national president for finswimming and coach to the Australian and Tasmanian teams, laughed.
She came to the sport after noticing "fins around" as a regular swimming coach.
"It's a very interesting sport to watch, very fast and graceful at the same time," Ms Lane said.
"It's mainly leg strength, whereas conventional swimming is arm strength."
Recently returned from a successful Australian championship in Queensland, where the Tasmanian team won 17 medals, they are now preparing to compete internationally.
"It was really just a warm-up for our team, with looking at going to Egypt for the world championships," Ms Lane said.
"Some of our members came home with a nice medal haul last time, we're hoping to do just as well as we did before."
It is likely three finswimmers from Tasmania and a possible five from other states will embark on the trip.
Training and competitions are self-funded, with the finswimmers hosting fundraising events to pay their way to the international championships.
Finswimmers will depart for the Finswimming World Masters Championship in Cairo, Egypt in June.
