Swimming paddle

#The present invention relates to hand accessories used in water related activities. More particularly, the present invention relates to a swimming paddle used for strength training in fitness swimming and performance swimming, which can enable a swimmer to swim faster and for longer periods of time when not using the paddle.

#There are various types of swimming paddles with diverse features and properties for use in pools and in the open water, by competitive athletes, long distance swimmers, surfers, medical rehabilitation patients, and others. Swimming hand accessories are typically used in fitness swimming or in performance training for competitive swimming sports. Such swimming hand accessories can add resistance to a swimmer's hand strokes and thereby provide the strength training that would ultimately allow a swimmer to swim faster and for longer than without the paddles.

#Swimming paddles are primarily designed to increase the surface area of a swimmer's hand in order to add more propulsion force that would allow a swimmer to swim faster. Maintaining a higher speed of swimming generally requires more work and sustained exertion of energy from a swimmer, and thus can help build a swimmer's strength. For example, a swimmer attempting to swim at the same high speed without the paddles would tire out faster and be unable to maintain that pace for a long period of time, and thus be unable to build the same amount of muscle as when using the paddles. Thus, while many swimming paddles cause a swimmer to swim faster when in use, they provide secondary benefits in gradual strength training. However, improvements can be made to conventional swimming paddles that, for example, are designed with the primary purpose of increasing swimming speeds, rather than maximizing the resistance load to the swimmer's stroke.

#These and other advantages of the present invention will be readily understood with reference to the following specifications and attached drawings wherein:

#FIG. 1 is a top plan view of a swimming paddle according to an embodiment of the invention.

#FIGS. 2a-2b show an illustration and a rendering of a pectoral fin of a humpback whale, as emulated by an embodiment of the invention.

#Embodiments of the present invention will be described herein with references to the accompanying drawings.

#FIG. 1 illustrates a top plan view of a left-hand swimming paddle 100 according to an embodiment of the invention. The swimming paddle 100 has a paddle body 101. According to the embodiment shown, the paddle body 101 is oversized, or larger than a hand to be placed thereon. According to an embodiment, the paddle body 101 may include an irregular edge 102. In particular, the irregular edge 102 has a scalloped shape according to the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, and is designed to emulate the pectoral fin of humpback whales. While other swimming accessories have notably tried to incorporate features of webbing shapes between the fingers to emulate certain aquatic animals, none are known to have focused on the unique characteristics of the humpback whale in particular, nor on a whale's pectoral fin 200 as shown in FIGS. 2a and 2b. Humpback whales are known for their great speeds, maneuverability and other acrobatic characteristics, which are often associated with their unique pectoral fins. Pectoral fins are believed to be similar to stabilizers or rudders of a ship, and can enable the whale to stop and swim backwards. The humpback whale's pectoral fin is especially unique because it is up to one third of the whale's body length, and is proportionally the longest fin of any marine mammal. But, the most identifiable characteristic of the humpback whale is its pattern of bumps, or ‘tubercles’, found along the edge of the pectoral fin, as shown by 202 in FIGS. 2a and 2b.

#Although not limited to theory, it has been reported that the tubercles of the humpback whale's pectoral fins increase propulsion. For example, the tubercles increase the surface area at the edge of the pectoral fin and can thereby cause more water to flow over its irregular edge than over a smooth edge. The increased surface area of the tubercles would thus require the fin to push against more water and accordingly increase propulsion. Moreover, as shown in FIG. 2c, large vortices form behind the troughs along the leading edge of a humpback whale's pectoral fin, whereas flow behind the tubercles form straight streamlines. These flow patterns induced by the tubercles are believed to have the effect of significantly improving manueverability. The increased surface area of the tubercles is also believed to be useful for temperature control when the whale migrates between warm and cold climates. Thus, by scaling its unique flow and temperature phenomena in water to that of air, the humpback whale's pectoral fin has inspired biomimicry for various industrial applications, such as the development of large scale scalloped or tubercle-lined blades as shown in FIG. 2d. Accordingly, scalloped blades emulating the whale's fins can be seen in wind turbines, hydroelectric turbines, ventilation fans and even helicopters, for the increased aerodynamic and thermal efficiencies they provide.