For snorkelers and scuba divers, swimming flippers — commonly known as swim fins — are an essential tool for propelling the body through water more efficiently than the human foot. The history of swim fins dates back centuries, originated by one of history's most famous artists and inventors, and the subject of an experiment by one of America's founding fathers.
Early Designs
Among the numerous inventions of Renaissance artist and innovator Leonardo Da Vinci were designs for underwater diving apparatuses, including a sketch for webbed swimming gloves. These are considered the precursor for modern swim fins. According to the online SCUBA magazine Aquaviews, founding father Benjamin Franklin also dabbled in this area. Franklin invented a pair of crude swim fins in the early 1700s, made by binding together two pieces of thin wood that would provide the swimmer with added propulsion.
Modern Swim Fins
In the 1930s, two men — one in the U.S., the other in France — worked independently on similar devices, both of influenced future swim-fin designs. Frenchman Louis de Corlieu patented his design for swim fins in 1933. A few years later, American Owen Churchill devised his own design. According to the National Museum of American History, Churchill's idea was reportedly inspired by some Tahitian natives who wove small mats from palm fronds, dipped them in tar and tied them to their feet when diving in the ocean. In 1940, Churchill patented the first rubber swim fins in the U.S.
Evolution
In 1948, Italian Luigi Ferraro worked with a company called Cressi-sub to create the first full-foot fin. Called the Rondine, the fin was named after the Italian word for the bird known as the swallow. Subsequently, In 1964, Georges Beuchat improved on Ferraro's design by adding vents at the base of the foot pocket, which were intended to improve the swimmer's efficiency when kicking underwater by allowing water to pass freely through the vents in the fins.
Modern Variations
Modern designers of swim fins have added a number of variations, continually improving the functionality and design of fins. For example, split fins work in much the same manner as propellers on a boat, creating a lift force that propels the swimmer in a fast forward motion. Another modern design innovation are convertible fins convertible fins that are half fin, half shoe. These swim fins can fold up when you exit the water, allowing you to walk normally on land; when you're ready to go back in the water, simply click down with a kick and they convert back into fins.
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