Finning into the Next Millennium
A breakthrough fin design and two perennial favorites give next century's divers a leg up on efficient underwater propulsion.

The performance standard for scuba fins has just been raised.

For years, paddle technology has dominated fin design. And for many of those years we've been bumping our heads against the performance ceiling dictated by the limitations of paddle technology.

Over the years, fin designers have worked hard to reduce the effort of swimming with paddle fins, mainly by decreasing the turbulence they generate as they move through water. Many of the vents, channels, rails, different materials, flexible sections and moving parts added to paddle fins have gradually, begrudgingly, improved their efficiency. but none of these changes has provided the breakthrough in performance we've hoped for.

Until now.

With the advent of propeller technology by Nature's Wing, fin efficiency has taken a giant stride forward. The Apollo bio-fins (Eco and Pro) are the first of this new breed of split fins being licensed by Nature's Wing. Several other manufacturers have already signed on and will be producing fins of this type by the end of 1999. This competition will benefit the diving consumer, as manufacturers vie to put out the best propeller fin at the best price.

[more of this atricle will be posted later]

Some pictures from this article:

Apollo Pro Bio-Fin

Testing Fins