Finswimming

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Finswimming is the progression of a swimmer using monofins or normal fins (called bifins or stereofins within the sport) either on the water surface or underwater, using only muscle strength. It is a discipline of underwater sports. The competition distances are same as for swimming (50 m, 100 m, 200 m, 400 m, 800 m, 1500 m, 4x100 m and 4x200 m relays). Continental and World Championships are organized by CMAS.

There are three disciplines in finswimming (international events)^[1]

Surface: 50, 100, 200, 400, 800, 1500, 4X100 and 4X200 relay (metres)
Surface bifins: 50, 100 and 200 (metres)
Apnea: 50 (metres)
Immersion: 100, 400, 800 (metres)

In the United States, competitions are also held in the above events, in addition to the following events in 25 yard pools.

Surface: 25, 50, 100, 200, 500, 1000, 1650; 200, 400, and 800 relays (yards)
Apnea: 25, 50; 200 relay (yards)
Immersion: 50, 100, 200, 500, 1000 (yards)

Surface racing is kicking on the surface, using a centre-mounted snorkel. Apnea racing is kicking under or at the surface with no breathing allowed, even at the turn ^[2]. Immersion racing is kicking underwater while breathing off of a scuba tank and a simplified regulator. Many finswimmers use heavily modified regulators, often stripping away any unnecessary parts.

It is a fairly undeveloped sport around the world; Russia, China, France, Greece, Germany and Italy are the main players. However, it can be found in around one hundred countries around the world. In the United States it is very small but gaining competitors. In the United Kingdom there are around seven finswimming clubs ^[3], mostly in Kent. Finswimming is found in many Commonwealth countries (see Commonwealth of Nations) including the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Canada and Singapore (see Commonwealth Finswimming Records).

World and Continental Championships are organised under CMAS rules and regulations. The European Championships have run since 1967 (held in Italy). World Championships have been held since 1976 (held in Germany). The World Championships are held every two years (on every odd year) and Continental Championships held in the intervening years. There have been twenty one European Championships. The Asian Finswimming Championships have been held 10 times, having started in 1989, the last being held in 2007 (in Hong Kong). There have been three Pan-American Championships, starting in 1993, with the last being held in 2001 (in Cali, Colombia). There have also been five "Arab Zone" Championships, the last was held in 2003 (in Beirut, Lebanon). Recently, CMAS has amalgamated all of the World Championships for the sports that it governs into one event, the World Underwater Games. The First World Underwater Games were held in 2007 in Bari, Italy. Most of the results for these Championships can be found on the CMAS website [1].

The sport is also one of those included in the World Games, South East Asia Games (Wiki page needs to be made) and in several multi-sport and military international events.

The major areas of finswimming in the United States include Texas (Houston, including the suburbs of Pasadena and Deer Park) which has the largest concentration of finswimmers in the USA, California (around San Francisco, which is the location of the national headquarters for USA Fin Swimming), Rhode Island (around Providence), and scattered individuals in Florida. The United States has competed at the World Championships sporadically since the early 1980s, achieving very limited success on the international scene.

There has been a lot written about the first finswimming championships and the origins of fins ^[4]. There were competitions held in France in the early 1920s, Italy in the 1930s and 1940s and in the United Kingdom in the 1950s.

Most countries hold National Championships, many of which are open to international competitors (including the Netherlands, Germany and Belgium).

A few competitions are held in the United States, with the last US National Championships being held in California in 1998. Texas hosts three to four meets a year, with participation consisting of Texas finswimmers and those from other countries who live in the southeast Texas area and still train and compete in the sport. They have hosted the majority of the finswimming competitions in the USA for the past 6-8 years. Texas hosts the Texas Open Finswimming Invitational, the Gulf Coast International Finswimming Invitational, along with the Texas State Finswimming Championships every year. In addition they also host 2-3 high school finswimming meets a year.

The World Scholar-Athlete Games and the United States Scholar-Athlete Games at the University of Rhode Island have included finswimming competition as a part of their Games program since 1999. The sport is growing in the United States with scattered pockets around the country popping up. However Texas leads the country in the number of finswimmers and competitions. Most finswimming training outside of Texas and California consists of cross training for swimming.

There is an annual National Short Course (25 m pool) Finswimming Championships in the United Kingdom, which are traditionally held at the Edenbridge Leisure Centre, Edenbridge, Kent. As of 2007, the annual National Long Course (50 m pool) Finswimming Championships have been held; the first being held in Aldershot, Hampshire.

The main appeal of finswimming is the speed that a competitor can reach. The World record for the 50 m freestyle, Long Course (see World records in swimming), is 21.28 seconds (by Eamon Sullivan of Australia). In finswimming it is 14.19 seconds (for 50 m Apnea by Euvjeny Skorjenko of Russia). This is a 33 percent increase in speed over conventional swimming.

The sport will continue to develop and move forward as more swimmers become involved and knowledgeable about the benefits of training with monofins.