The mermaid performance. [Photo provided to english.sanya.gov.cn]

On Dec 28, the two-day final of the 2022 China Mermaid Open was held in Atlantis Sanya.

There were three events: the men's single event, the women's single event and the four-person team event. 30 contestants were shortlisted in the individual competitions and eight teams were shortlisted in the team competition. Local teams from Hainan appeared in the team competition for the first time this year.

The transparent acrylic viewing wall that is needed to host and view the competition is 16.5 meters long, 8.3 meters high, 0.65 meter thick, and 11 meters deep. It holds up to 13,500 metric tons of seawater, meeting the standards of the National Mermaid Competition Manual.

The contestants wore professional fishtails and used props that were ecologically made. All equipment was reviewed by the referee team before contestants could dive into the water.

Once in the water, contestants demonstrated their technical skills, such as backstroke entries, horizontal swimming, horizontal side swimming, diving, and vertical hovers.

The contestants incorporated props and magic into their movement arrangement to enhance the viewing pleasure of the audience.

Su Ke, deputy director of the Water Sports Management Center of China's General Administration of Sports, said, "Sanya, Hainan, is the preferred destination for domestic water sports."

Su went on to state that the administration hopes to promote the vigorous development of mermaid sports and other water sports by taking advantage of Sanya's unique geographical advantages.