Though monofins are also employed by free-divers to maximize and streamline their power while conserving energy, the real beauty of using these fins – which resemble a dolphin’s powerful tail in form and function – is exemplified in the speed of finswimming. A finswimmer in top form can reach more than 11 km/h (6.8 mph) in the water, which is almost 3 km/h (1.9 mph) faster than the speed of a top freestyle swimmer. Nonetheless, just like the swimmer the finswimmer uses only his own body power to propell himself forward.
But reaching these speeds takes time and plenty of hard training. A Formula One driver goes through years of rigorous training in several classes of the motor sport before he might be allowed to join the “king class”. Likewise a finswimmer also needs years to develop and reach his full potential. His body has to memorize the dolphin-like movement until it is second nature and he can do it in his sleep. Small mistakes costing mere hundredths of a second can make or break a race, just like in the top class of motor sports – split seconds count. The exitement of a 50 meter sprint race with two or three finswimmers hitting the wall at almost the same time is like no other in water sports. But finswimming events are raced in various disciplines at distancesn a https://topnohu.baby ranging from 25 meters (usually for younger athletes) to marathon distance races of up to 25,000 meters in open ocean or lakes. Each venue and race has its own particular flavor and excitement. Sometimes in long distance races, a breakout finswimmer can gain and keep the lead position for the bulk of the race only to get overtaken in the final 20 meters by a competitor who better learned to preserve his strength throughout the race and finish strong