How would you feel about a mermaid in your lap lane?

If you are swimming at Tobruk Memorial Baths in Townsville you are likely to be sharing the pool with a few of the mermaiding enthusiasts from the NQ Mer Pod.

The NQ Mer Pod was established in July 2017 and has grown to 14 mermaids and one merman in seven months.

Member Caitlin Stubbs said the hobby gives her fitness, friendship, and the chance to indulge in aquatic fantasy.

"You get in your tail and you are just free under the water. It is just the escapism," she said.

There is a huge global community of people who don tails and swim like mermaids.

Pods organise outings to rivers, oceans or pools to swim together and socialise. You can even take mermaid fitness classes.

"We absolutely love sharing it with the public, especially children," Ms Stubbs said.

"Just seeing their face light up at public pools is one of the most amazing things.

"I feel a bit bad taking the tail off in front of them because it ruins the illusion."

Metamorphosis: Beau Morelli said he feels transformed when wearing the tail. ( ABC North Queensland: Nathalie Fernbach )

Mermaid tails a drowning risk, study finds

Last month, Royal Life Saving WA conducted a study into the safety of tails for children.

The study of 25 children found that tails could impede swimming ability by up to 70 per cent and may increase the risk of drowning as a result.

Royal Life Saving Australia recommended that children under the age of seven do not use tails, and some public pools including YMCA pools in Victoria have banned the toys.

Townsville swimming instructor Bridget Ferguson said she enjoyed seeing the mermaids in the pool but agreed that only competent swimmers should use the device.

"The same as every aquatic sport, safety absolutely has to come first," she said.

"However, once you know how to use the equipment properly and you have a competent level of swimming it is probably safe — if you have adult supervision.

"Just be prepared that it is going to make it more difficult for you."

The escapism and sense of fantasy is part of the appeal of mermaiding, Caitlin Stubbs says. ( ABC North Queensland: Tom Edwards )

Rather than a blanket ban on the tails, Ms Stubbs said she would like to see a competency test introduced for children who want to wear tails.

"There is this community of swimmers who are very safe in their tails and [a ban] just takes away from the people who are having fun safely," she said.

"If the parent is supervising and knows their child's limits there really is no reason to ban the tails as such because it is just a common sense issue."

'I wear a tail to the office'

Mermaid performers Amelia Lassetter and Jessica Bell have been mermaiding professionally for five years.

Ms Bell said their business has doubled every year as the interest in mermaiding grows.

"It is getting bigger every day, it is just huge," she said.

"When we first started we had to make our own monofins. We had to make everything from scratch.

"Now you can just go to the shop or on the internet and buy a pre-made monofin, a pre-made tail, and be a mermaid instantly. That appeals to a lot of people."

Professional mermaid performers Amelia Lassetter and Jessica Bell are trained free-divers, but the pair always swim with a buddy when in a tail. ( Supplied: Krystal Huff )

Ms Bell and Ms Lassetter are both trained free-divers and say even as experienced swimmers they never swim alone in a tail.

Ms Lasseter said there are better ways to manage the growing popularity of mermaid tails than a ban on tails in public pools.

"If you just say to people 'oh, if you have a fin you can't swim here' then they are just going to go swim in the ocean and that's a lot more dangerous," she said.

"Instead of putting people in a high-risk situation, work with them and put schools and training in place. Educate people on how to use them."