Tails of a Mermaid - Episode 1

I’m 13 years old, it’s 6.20pm on a Wednesday night in September and exactly 10 minutes before we have to leave for swimming. I’ve been in the bathroom for a while trying desperately to figure out how to use the baffling new object, and one soon to become very familiar, called a tampon.

I started my period over the summer holidays. Not quite perfectly timed (we were on a camping holiday!) but thankfully without the risk of it interfering with my already fairly time-consuming competitive swimming schedule of 6 sessions a week.

But summer soon transitioned into autumn and it was time to return to swim training. This time with the added complexity of new ‘swimming’ equipment. Even with clear diagrammatic instructions and advice and support from my mum, putting a tampon in for the first time was... pretty grim. Probably not helped by the ticking clock as the time to leave for training grew closer and closer.

Thankfully, my determination paid off and I learned the trick eventually. I can't help but wonder though, if I hadn't seen this as a barrier to my swimming performance, would I have put the same effort into learning? I wonder how many women, put off by the initial discomfort of figuring out how to use a tampon, have had to say goodbye to a swimming session or a trip to a water park with friends because they were never encouraged to figure it out?

Women in Sport

According to Sport England:

• 1 in 10 girls no longer participate in enough physical activity to benefit their health by age 14
• Fact 2.
• Fact 3.
• Fact 4.

While this is likely caused by a number of factors including body image and (gasp!) the discovery of boys, the additional feelings of embarrassment and discomfort they might have relating to sport and their period shouldn’t be yet ANOTHER barrier to keeping active.

Probably needs a quote here.

So to all the young teenage girls out there: If you’re considering skipping swim class or missing out on playing at the beach with your friends because you’ve tried to figure out the mystery of putting in that tampon or menstrual cup so many times. Don’t. Keep at it, you’ll figure it out eventually and it will be so worth it!