SUSO

As Fast As The Fishies

"Michael Phelps ... choke on my white water!"

My triathlon swim-times have plateaued recently.  So I thought it was time to get creative in my search for a little extra aquatic cut-through.  Only it appears that guys like Ted Ciamillo are well ahead of me.  This Greek engineer has gone back to nature in his ambition to match the dolphin for underwater speed.  The result? Say hello to the 'Lunocet'.

The Lunocet is a biomimetic (meaning mimicking biology) swimming device modelled after the lunate tail fin found in whales and dolphins.  Which basically means it's a dolphin-inspired 2.5 pound monofin. Lightweight and conceived from carbon fiber and fiberglass, it spans almost a meter.

So just how fast are we talking?  Ted stells us that It’s capable of one day being able to propell swimmers at almost 33 miles per hour, converting nearly 80 percent of the applied energy into thrust. The appendage is efficient, lightweight and fast. So fast infact that even today it can propel swimmers almost twice the speed of Michael Phelps!

I want one. And they are on sale today here!

Thing is I'm not sure how predisposed the Tri community would be to 'dolphin boy'.  That and the fact that my transition times would certainly go down the pan!  So for now it's back to the pool for some hard graft (remembering if it was easy everyone would be doing it...)  Fortunately to help me in my efforts this website this looks like it could be my saving grace.  It's a website dedicated to turning man into fish through the development of the simple skill of swimming.  Result!

So taking technology to the next level, if I can't sprout a fin, and I can't make one (that I can use) then maybe this creative training tool will help me to find speed the old fashion way.  Either that or I should do some digging on how man can grow scales...

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By Juan on 7/9/09