Hello little buzzing bees!
Have you ever heard about finswimming?
No?
Well, today’s your lucky day!
With BRAVO, we’re implementing a project that promotes finswimming in BiH, a relatively new sport in the Balkans, and we want to share with you 7 reasons why you should stay tune with us!
- Debunking a myth: Did you know that finswimming has ancient origins? People have been using fins to swim faster for centuries, dating all the way back to ancient Greece and Rome. So, let’s not call it a ‘new’ sport.
- Innovation: Back in the day, fins were made from materials like wood or animal bones. The first to develop wood fins? Benjamin Franklin! Yes, the famous inventor. But don’t worry, with today’s technological developments, the materials used are waaaay much lighter.
- Breaking Barriers: While sports like swimming and track have long been dominated by men, finswimming has been breaking gender barriers since its early days. In fact, women have been competing in finswimming events for over a century!
- Inclusion and Gender Equality: One of the coolest things about the Mermaid for Inclusion project is its commitment to inclusion and gender equality. This project welcomes people of all genders and backgrounds! Everybody is welcome.
- Making waves for Change: In recent years, finswimming has emerged as a powerful tool for social change. Through initiatives aimed at promoting inclusion and gender equality, the sport is helping to break down barriers and create a more equitable world for all.
- Release the mermaidinside you: Who hasn’t dreamed of being a mermaid at some point? Well, with finswimming, you can make those dreams a reality! Strap on a pair of fins and dive into the magical world beneath the waves.
- Surfing to Success: As finswimming continues to grow in popularity, athletes are making waves on the world stage. Next step: Olympic games! Be part of this journey and let’s bring finswimming to its first Olympic games!
So grab a fin and join us on this new adventure called „Mermaids for inclusion“!
MORE ABOUT THE PROJECT
The goal of the project Mermaids for Inclusion is to establish fin swimming as a new sport in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo and to use the sports environment to promote awareness raising and inclusion regarding gender equality as well as integration of ethnic and religious minorities.
This will be achieved through advanced education tools and the transfer of good practice from the participating Member States (Croatia and Greece). Sport activities are a strong means for inclusion and cohesive societies, since sport can create a healthy and supportive environment for socially vulnerable groups and local communities to meet and interact. This is especially important in the region of Western Balkans with ongoing challenges regarding the inclusion of ethnic and religious minorities. The project also aims at advancing gender equality which is a relevant topic for the whole region of the Balkans which is traditionally dominated by patriarchal gender norms. In Bosnia and Herzegovina and in Kosovo there is still a dominating stereotype of women’s roles being mainly family-oriented and caretaking rather than actively participating in public life and business. The project will have a great impact not only on coaches, athletes and participating organizations that will be directly involved in the project, but also on wider community and relevant stakeholders by setting a model for good practice of using sport as a means for social integration. Fin swimming is a sport that uses bifins or a monofin.
The monofin or “mermaid’s tail” makes the fin swimmers often associated with mermaids and it allows them to swim approximately 12-15 times faster compared to normal classic sports swimming. For that reason it can be very attractive for dissemination activities and for attracting newcomers to the sport.