# @steeple_squigs on Instagram

- **Type:** Image
- **Original URL:** https://www.instagram.com/p/C5Wb-ZGvMdj
- **Gondola URL:** https://gondola.cc/posts/13832714-steeple-squigs-instagram
- **Thumbnail:** https://img.gondola.cc/tr:w-,h-,fo-auto/thumbnails/1b087297ba.jpg
- **Posted:** 2024-04-04T19:02:41.000+00:00
- **Account Owner:** Colleen Quigley (@steeple_squigs) — https://gondola.cc/steeple_squigs

## Caption

I started swimming in 2015 because I couldn’t run for months on end and aqua jogging was making me crazy.
I started calling it “being a mermaid” because I needed to reframe it in my mind as something whimsical instead of some kind of punishment. 🧜🏻‍♀️ 
Over the years I’ve often used mermaiding as a tool both during times of injury and even when I’m healthy. Now I’m pretty confident in the water and love that I have another activity that I can do my whole life.
And I know that I never would have learned how to swim if it wasn’t for that injury in 2015.
At the Olympic Trials in 2016 everyone knew that I had been injured a lot of that year and had been swimming and doing a lot of cross training. When I crossed the line and made the Olympic team the announcers said “she calls herself a mermaid and now she’s splashing her way to Rio!” 😂 
If you’re interested in getting started with your own merperson journey, I have a few articles on my website about how to get your splash on!
🧜🏻‍♀️ 🧜🏻‍♀️ 
📷 by susietheis 
#mermaidlife #olympicjourney

## Stats

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- **Likes:** 3,367
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## Tags

olympicjourney, mermaidlife

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