Monofin

Monofin
Monofin

Monofin

Monofin with Delfin footpockets

 

Monofin Manufacturing

 

Making of a Monofin

Monofin
 
A Monofin is a type of swim fin used in finswimming, apnea, freediving, underwater orientation, or just for recreational swimming in a pool or open water. It consists of a single blade attached to footpockets for both feet.
 
Constituent Parts of the Monofin 
 
The Blade looks rather like a dolphin’s fin made from fiberglass or carbon. It can be of different hardnesses, which is achieved by dimension, thickness and style of fiberglass delamination used in construction. The thickness of the blade is between 1.5mm at the base, to between about 0.65mm > 0.70mm at the tip; the varying of the thickness gives the blade it's flexibility.
 
The Footpockets are made from rubber. Previously,  rubber fins  were used and after some modification, were attached to the blade. The most popular were "Delfin" brand Russian rubber fins. Nowadays, manufacturers can offer as their own footpockets made in their own factories, as footpockets made from rubber fins.
 
Finswimming Technique
 
The monofin swimmer extends arms forward, locking his or her hands together, locking the head between the biceps. An undulating movement starts in the shoulders, with maximum amplitude towards the hips, legs (knees) almost don't bend to transfer the movement to the monofin most efficiently. This technique is called "dolphin kick".
 
History
 
Trials to swim like a dolphin and copy their fin were made at least a hundred years ago, around the end of the Nineteenth century. The Invention of the monofin for finswimming as  we know it today was made by a coach from the former USSR, Boris Porotov, in 1968. This pioneer Monofin was made from rubber and steel (titanium),  but wasn’t very effective as it was too thick and big.The Length of this first monofin was about 1000 mm!
 
Another attempt to make a monofin was in 1969, and was made fully from rubber. The Sportsman Nadezhda Turukalo became a World Record Holder in that fin!  As the material used was not perfect for a monofin, coaches and sportsmen were looking for better materials and presented their inventions at the USSR championships.
 
The most active in monofin experiments that time were: V.Zagozin, B.Porotov, B.Salmin, V.Zhdanov, V.Titov, A.Shumkov and other. That era was a boom-time of the space industry in the USSR, and one of the main components that used for spaceships was fiberglass. It is lightweight, and robust, flexible and easily laminated - exactly the type of material that was needed for a monofin. After a lot of experiments, made by coaches and sportsmen, it was found that to laminate fiberglass from thick (2 mm) to thin (0,7 mm) it becomes very flexible, the ideal profile to provide good propulsion in the water.
 
Recent History
 
In 1999 there came a revolution in monofin building. Russian coach Eugeniy Andronov presented his new invention - the “hiperbaloid”, nowadays, better known as a hyperfin. 
 
Characteristics, dimensions and types of monofins
 
The Dimensions of a monofin are limited, and should be no more than 760x760x150 mm.
 
The Dimensions of the blade can be different and individual. Standard dimensions of a blade for  a “classic monofin” are:
  • 500x500 mm (for children);
  • 600 x 600;
  • 600 x 620;
  • 600 x 660;
  • 600 x 700 (for men, more advanced and adult finswimmers)
The Hardness and lamination of the blade is individual,  and can be very different in different manufacturers and depend on materials. The Hardness of monofin depends first of all on the thickness of the blade; As the blade is thicker at the base, and it is harder. The Standard thickness of a blade for  a “classic monofin” is 1,5 (1,6 mm) for girls and young sportsmen and 2 mm for advanced sportsmen. 
The Footpockets and shoesize are also very important for performance; it is better if the footpockets are tight to the feet to reduce the risk of "slippage" and maximise power-transfer efficiency.
There are different types of monofins: Classic monofin, Flyer, Hyperfin.
Nowadays, the Classic monofin is more useful for training, the Hyperfin for competition. The Flyer is a sort of middle-stop  between the Classic monofin and the Hyperfin.
 
Producers
 
There are around 30 producers of monofins in the world. Mostly, a monofin is a handmade product.
Most of the producers are located in Ukraine and Russia where historically monofin building was advanced and materials of good quality were available. There are also producers in Estonia, China, Hungary, Italy, and Czech Republic.
 
The most famous producers are:
 
  • Triton Underwater Sport Equipment. (Kiev, Ukraine).
  • Eugeniy Andronov (Smolensk, Russia),
  • Ivan Shakhov (Tomsk, Russia),
  • Aquamaster (Taganrog, Russia),
  • Waterway (Kiev, Ukraine),
  • LeaderFins (Tallin, Estonia),
  • SpesialFins (Tallin, Estonia),
  • Yakovlev Andrey (Kiev, Ukraine),
  • Rocketfins (Kiev, Ukraine),
  • Goldenfish (Kharkov, Ukraine),
  • Chen Bin (China),
  • Mat-Mas (Italy).

References

  1. Кебкало В.И., Орлов Г.Н. Ныряние с ластами в длину и подводное плавание //Спортсмен-подводник. – 1985. – вып.73. – С. 8-11.
  2. Поротов Б.Г. Освоение нового стиля плавания // Спортсмен-подводник.- 1971.-вып.28.- С. 8-12.
Related Links
  • The most modern of all monofins: The hyperfin

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This article was created by Max Moroz.

 

 


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