Basic gear from mid-twentieth-century Italy: Other manufacturers

[jale]

Zoggs. That's a name!

 

[David Wilson]

Zoggs. That's a name!

Indeed. An Australian swim gear brand, I believe. Website at Zoggs.

 

[dmaziuk]

Sporti version: Sporti Essential Training Swim Fins at SwimOutlet.com

Also available in silicone for those who can't stand rubber: Sporti Essential Silicone Swim Fins at SwimOutlet.com

 

[Popgun Pete]

Sporti version: Sporti Essential Training Swim Fins at SwimOutlet.com

Also available in silicone for those who can't stand rubber: Sporti Essential Silicone Swim Fins at SwimOutlet.com

And want a lower tear strength.

 

[David Wilson]

I'm grateful for the likes, АлександрД and jale, and for the posts, jale, dmaziuk and Pete.

And now to complete the Francis Sub range of fins. We shall start with the Nettuno. "Nettuno" is Italian for "Neptune" (Latin: Neptūnus), god of freshwater and the sea in Roman religion and the counterpart of the Greek god Poseidon. Here is the Nettuno fin:

Features:

• Fin with long blade.
• Black all-rubber fin.
• Non-floating.
• Moulded in one piece, hence less likely to fracture.
• Suitable for swimming, pool training and deep-sea diving.

So a long-bladed free-diving style fin. I have a pair in my collection, purchased at a bargain price from a Czech online retailer. The fins come with very soft and comfortable natural-rubber foot pockets and stiff and powerful extended blades. They follow in the tradition of the Mares Concorde below, which is still made in Turkey, and other all-rubber long-blades.

 

[David Wilson]

Francis Sub Nettuno fins were not only sold in the Czech Republic, Slovakia and the Russian Federation but also once States-side:

Some more images of the model:

I shall stop there for today and leave the remaining two Francis Sub fin models for midweek. Stay safe and keep well in the meantime.

 

[David Wilson]

Thanks for the likes, АлександрД and lowwall.

We are now down to the final two fins in the Francis Sub range. They were more recent arrivals than the others and were branded "Waterfly". Let us start with the Endurance model:

The Waterfly Endurance full-foot fin was available in many fittings from child to adult sizes. This from a Polish online retailer:

So a closed-heel fin more closely resembling models made in Malaysia for other swimming equipment distributors. Francis Sub probably wanted to take on these Far Eastern manufacturers in the worldwide swim fin market, but ultimately failed in the attempt to compete.

 

[David Wilson]

Second Francis sub fin of the day is the Waterfly X-Power:

It is basically a cut-down version of the Endurance for competitive swimmers' workouts. It was available in fewer fittings than the Endurance:

That will suffice for today. This concludes the Italian thread. Next time, at the weekend, I shall be starting a new thread, moving westward in the Mediterranean to Spain and probably beginning with the Nemrod company. Until then, keep well and stay safe.

 

[lowwall]

Maybe @Angelo Farina can answer this. What purpose do those mini fins serve? I was a competitive swimmer and we never used them. Form is vital in competitive swimming and you don't use the same kick with fins as you would without so I would think it's counterproductive to spend pool time using them. You certainly don't need extra accessories for movement specific muscle strengthening, the enormous increase in drag as speed increases means sprint intervals serve that purpose quite well.

BTW, it's probably obvious, but Pomarańczowe/Niebieski means Orange/Blue and Czerwone/Niebieski means Red/Blue.

 

[Angelo Farina]

Maybe @Angelo Farina can answer this. What purpose do those mini fins serve? I was a competitive swimmer and we never used them. Form is vital in competitive swimming and you don't use the same kick with fins as you would without so I would think it's counterproductive to spend pool time using them. You certainly don't need extra accessories for movement specific muscle strengthening, the enormous increase in drag as speed increases means sprint intervals serve that purpose quite well.

BTW, it's probably obvious, but Pomarańczowe/Niebieski means Orange/Blue and Czerwone/Niebieski means Red/Blue.

As David Wilson already posted these short fins are used by long-distance swimmers to reinforce the muscles in their legs. It is not for sprint pool swimmers, but for swimmers of long distance in open waters, as Gregorio Paltrinieri - Wikipedia
For the same purpose they also use palmed gloves: