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When Estonia’s Merle Liivand first started swimming with a monofin, she never could have imagined it would one day lead to becoming a world record holder.

It’s earned her the nickname of The Mermaid, and in April she swam almost 50km around Miami in 14 hours – the furthest anyone has swum wearing a monofin.

But Liivand doesn’t just break records, when she’s swimming these marathon distances, she also collects rubbish along the way, motivated by a desire to clean up the world’s oceans.

She spoke to Sportshour’s Caroline Barker when attending the New York Climate Week.

Image: Merle Liivand holds her Guinness World Record certificate after setting the record for the furthest swim with a monofin in Miami, Florida, USA, in April 2023. (Credit: Merle Liivand)