When I was seven and enthralled with Peter Pan, I researched mermaids. We went to the beach most summers, and as I swam around in the ocean, I always hoped I'd see one. This was before Google, so I used my World Book encyclopedias to look up "mermaid" and follow the information trail to the dismaying understanding that they were probably only manatees or sea lions spied by sailors so drunk that they perceived them to be beautiful females. I remember being skeptical of such an unexciting truth. Wasn't there more to it than that? Ever since then, whether it was spying the singing mermaids on the Submarine or "It's a Small World" rides at DIsneyland, watching movies that had mermaids in them ("Splash," "The Little Mermaid") or seeing the Starbucks logo proliferate around the nation, I've maintained my interest in mermaids. I remember a roommate of mine saying, once, "I'm a mermaid," and I was taken aback. Then I realized what she meant--she was an avid swimmer. This gave me pause. I'd never associated the real-world act of swimming laps in a pool with mythical creatures. The years when by, and as it happened, I started swimming more. I've worked really hard in the past several years to improve my technique, get faster, and swim more yards in each session. This summer, I swam in the ocean in Hawaii. I don't know about mermaids, but there is something incredibly soothing and therapeutic about swimming. When you swim well, and get into the flow of it, your thoughts drift, too, and there's nothing like it. I was a marathoner at one time, but swimming is now my favorite form of exercise, hands down. When I put on my ugly Speedo, swim cap, and goofy goggles, I could not feel less cool. But somehow, once I'm in that water, everything melts away. All that matters is that I move forward smoothly. I suppose that as a child, mermaids, like fairies or Santa Claus, were made-up creatures that represented childlike hope for me. In a way, swimming has become my own form of mermaid-dom: In the big lap pool, a bunch of strangers and I peacefully swim around, attaining peace and health as we go.