By: Jason Li

Famous swimmer Merle Liivand just swam a marathon, usually a running race for 30 kilometers, with a monofin (one fin attached to both feet)!

Merle Liivand grew up swimming to improve her lungs, but one day, 11 years ago, she nearly swallowed some plastic in the ocean. She began to think about all the sea animals that faced similar situations and decided to make people more aware of this plastic problem. She calls this a “plastic pandemic.”

She started swimming like sea creature, utilizing a monofin, letting her to raise awareness. She believes that swimming like a sea creature makes her message bigger. She has since broken multiple world records, her most recent being 20 kilometers in 11 hours and 54 seconds. During her most recent record, she said, “I got stung by a jellyfish and kept telling myself that this was not the time to cry.”