What coaches and swimmers say.

Interviewer: So when you swim with these paddles, what do you feel?

Swimmer: It makes me feel better — like it keeps my hands. A lot. And when I go in like wrong, it helps you place in the right position.

Interviewer: And what about backstroke?

Swimmer: Backstroke was hard because I kept hitting and kept going here and there.

Interviewer: You're feeling [the difference]?

Swimmer: Yeah. Help me a lot with hand position.

Coach: What did you feel?

Athlete: When taking the catch — this makes a really big difference. I noticed I would feel my muscles a lot more engaged, especially right here on my lat. This is great. When you take it out of the water, it definitely felt like my elbows were a lot higher. And I think entering the water…

Interviewer: What's the difference when you test this versus Arena or another paddle?

Athlete: The other paddles — they would either not feel strong enough, like you don't feel them really helping or working. Or they would be flimsy, because they wouldn't really support your hand that well. They have straps and you have to either keep the straps super tight, which is annoying — or if they're too loose, they just move around too much and don't really help. These — you don't really need to do any of that.

Interviewer: You like it? Do you think this paddle has changes for swimmers?

Athlete: I think this could really change a lot for all the swimmers, for sure.

Interviewer: How would you say it?

Athlete: I guess — revolutionized training. This makes a big difference. With a good set of paddles you could train a lot better with your stroke.

Interviewer: How do you feel?

Athlete: It's pretty good.

Interviewer: Any interesting thoughts — like when you pull with the paddles?

Athlete: These paddles feel pretty nice. It feels like I don't need to grab them. They're pretty good paddles — when you do the arm movement, the strokes — yeah, you can control your arms.

Interviewer: Yeah, okay.

Athlete: When I wear my other paddles I always have to hold differently or scrub out my fingers. But this feels nice.

I really liked how they sat in the water. The moment of the grab is very pronounced — especially on the back. It was very pleasant to swim backstroke; the moment I took the catch — when I gripped the water — I felt the grab much better than I had on the swim before. Thank you.

Q: How do you feel about the grip?

A: It's good to hold on to.

Q: Compared to the other ones?

A: What else can I say about them? I like that they don't have straps.

Q: Do you feel the support here?

A: Yes, I feel like my hand is touching [the paddle].

Q: Good. Do you feel that with the other ones?

A: With the others, you don't feel the important place.

Q: How is it?

A: It's good.

Q: Really?

A: Yes — it's just a feeling.

Q: You designed those?

A: Yes. This is so different from what we have on the market today. I designed it in 1976, when I was a student of teaching swimming.

Q: 50 years ago? Different from what's on the market?

A: Yes — I like the design. All the paddles we have now have straps. They don't really feel the same. These feel different from [the others]…

Now we're going to test these paddles. The advantage of these is that they're not flat — they have a shape. They're slightly curved to break the grip, so you feel it. But it's not quite enough at this moment, so we'll check it now.

I can't say they're different from the plastic kind. Most likely this version isn't quite stable yet. We need to control the movement and engage our own muscles. We don't yet know how to control [the new feel].

The impression of the shape is the same as other paddles. And again — those straps. Honestly, I don't like them. All my life, the straps have been damaging [hands]. That's all.