Utah mermaids win gold with Team USA at "Merlympics"

• Team USA won the gold medal, besting more than a dozen other countries.

How it works: Individual mermaids, mermen and teams compete in events like synchronized swimming, races, an underwater photo shoot to test poise and showmanship without air — and even a rescue event, à la Ariel and Prince Eric.

• As nature intended, athletes compete while wearing mermaid tails.

Zoom in: Mia Sim of Provo and Aurora Miller of South Salt Lake auditioned to join four other merfolk from the U.S. in intense, mostly online video training to learn the synchronized routine.

Catch up quick: Mia, who's known online as The Provo Mermaid, donned her first tail when she was a 12-year-old theater kid, learning costume design and special effects. Once she saw the beautiful tails, she was hooked.

• "I was fishing around Joann's, where I used up all my gift cards as a kid," she told Axios.
• She'd been performing at kids' birthday parties in pools and splashpads for years when she learned about the fight-to-the-finish, no-holds-barred, shark-eat-shark universe of competitive mermaiding — just in time for the Swiss Merlympics last year.

What they're saying: "I'm like, 'I don't know if this is a scam, but I'm just gonna do it,'" Mia said.

• She won the title of "World's Fastest Mermaid."

Meanwhile, Aurora — whose "mersona" is Siren Tephra — joined a friend who wanted to take up mermaiding about five years ago. After some renaissance faire performances, she wanted to up her athletic game.

• She earned certification as an "advanced mermaid diver" alongside her open-water scuba training.
• But as for the Merlympics — "this year, I'm a rookie," she told Axios.

Try it out: Mermaid costumes are available online — but many public pools don't allow them.

• The Great Salt Lake, however, has no such regulations.
• To really learn to flip your fins, check out the hourlong Discover Mermaid class in Holladay.