Swim Fins

Swim fins or Flippers are a great help for increasing swimming speed or performance. These amphibian feet styled flippers, which are a necessary part of any scuba diving kit, are also gaining popularity as regular swimming accessories. While the swim fin’s main function is just increasing the size of your feet, different types of swim fins give different kinds of results and a correct decision in choosing your swim fin can lead to noticeable improvements in your performance. Swim fin technology is improving day by day and providing us with new products to cater to all kinds of swimming and diving needs.

Swim Fins come in numerous shapes, sizes, colors, fastenings and styles. The basic differences lie between hard fins and soft fins. Softer swim fins are generally advised for swim fin beginners, while plastic hard fins (the harder ones) are for people who have already mastered swim fin kicking. Then there are short, medium and long fins, each of which have their own advantages and disadvantages vis-à-vis the others. So while a short swim fin lets you maintain your regular kicking speed and gives adequate increased power, a medium sized fin will give more power , but at the cost of kicking speed. Long swim fins are best for scuba diving but are not as good as the shorter ones for swimming.

And then there are the monofins and the split fins. Split fins function very well with tight, short kicks, giving the user maximum power for speed training. The monofins are single bladed fins that are a great tool for workouts that develop strong abdominal, back and leg muscles. They are used by people who want to improve their swimming techniques. Lightweight swim fins are used for sports like body boarding and surfing, since they help in propelling the body faster through surf. Swim fins for children are also available in the market. These infant and mini swim fins help children in learning swimming fast and increasing performance.

One of the most popular swim fins is the SAR swim fin. Specially designed for SAR swimming and water rescue, these fins provide the wearer with great maneuverability and thrust. Body Glove is another popular company making swim fins and other swimming and diving equipment. Australia based Hydro makes specialized swim fins for body boarding and body surfing. TYR is another company whose spilt swim fins are known for their superior performance. The company’s split fins are popular with people who are into speed training and retail for approximately $35 per pair.