Courtesy of FINIS, a SwimSwam partner.
How about doing the 50M underwater in 13.70 seconds, or doing the 400 in under 3 minutes. Olympic champions like Pablo Morales, Misty Hyman, and Jenny Thompson went to the world Finswimming championships in Hungary in 1996. Now Finswimming will happen in the USA at the world games in Birmingham, Alabama July 7 to 17, 2022.
Recognized around the world as the fastest sport in the pool, athletes use a monofin or bifins as their sole source of propulsion through the water and compete in individual or variable distance relay events. There the athletes can reach maximum average speeds of 8 mi/h.
The World Games is a multi-sport event organized every 4 years where sports that do not attend the Olympic event participate. Among the most prominent sports are Sumo, Karate, Bowling, powerlifting, Lacross, and Finswimming. The Finswimming events include 4×50 Surface, 4×100 Surface, female and male, and 50 men’s bifins. Among the most outstanding athletes on the national team are Victoria Perez, a world medalist in finswimming in 2015 and 2016, and Drew Modrov, an elite swimmer who participated in the Olympic trials for swimming.
In addition, basketball legend Charles Barkley is one of the Honorary Chair members, and superstar Lionel Richie will be performing at the World Games.
“We are very excited to have these pools as our hub as we begin our push out into the world. Games in Birmingham AL as well as the inclusion of Finswimming in the LA2028 Games,” according to Mike Gower, US National Finswimming Team Director.
The headquarters for USA finswimming is in Wellesley MA where the FNTC Finswimming National Training Center is located, they’re led by the national coach Leon Valderrama who has more than 15 years of experience in the field trains athletes of different ages and brings together athletes and coaches to teach the latest trends in the sport.
The pools are located within the Boston Sports Institute (BSI), a complex multi-use recreational facility that features two NHL regulation ice surfaces, an indoor synthetic turf field, a competition pool, a warm-up pool, sports rehab, bodybuilding, indoor track, and training center.
About FINIS, Inc.
John Mix and Olympic Gold Medal swimmer Pablo Morales founded FINIS in Northern California in 1993 with a mission to simplify swimming for athletes, coaches, beginners and lifelong swimmers around the world. Today, FINIS fulfills that mission through innovation, high-quality products and a commitment to education. FINIS products are currently available in over 80 countries. With a focus on innovation and the fine details of swimming, FINIS will continue to develop products that help more people enjoy the water.