Is It a Kickboard Or A Pull Buoy?

Is It a Kickboard Or A Pull Buoy?

Steven Munatones 08/27/2015 Open Water Swimming No Comment
Courtesy of WOWSA, Huntington Beach, California.

FINIS‘s new multi-use Axis Buoy truly lives up to its name and can be used in all kinds of ways in the water, especially if one is an open water swimmer or triathlete.

Its unique shape enables the FINIS Axis Buoy to be used in multiple ways:

1. As a traditional pull buoy between your thighs.
2. As a lower leg pull buoy that hooks around your ankles and puts good pressure on your core while elevating your body position to more likely resembles your body position in salt water conditions.
3. As a kickboard that hooks around your wrists (swimming on your front or back) and puts good pressure on your core while keeping your body position lower than a traditional kickboard.
4. As a vertical kickboard that hooks around your wrists as your body is vertical in the water.

“With over a year in development, John Mix and his team of designers came up with another innovative FINIS design that will help swimmers of all levels. They had to figure out the optimal materials, molds and manufacturing processes to make this multi-use buoy,” says Steven Munatones. “It is as versatile as a swimming tool can be. I am going to take this new buoy on trips so I can have an all-in-one pull buoy and kickboard. It is also really good in the open water, although I had to carry it in my hands through the heavy surf in Huntington Beach.

I felt it working on my core in a way that traditional kickboards and pull buoys can never accomplish. In a way, the buoy also reminds me of the days back in the 1960s and 1970s when swimmers used black rubber pulling bands tied on our ankles – but it is now in a form factor for the 21st century.

Remarkably, the Axis Buoy also serves as a very comfortable pillow to use on the deck of an escort boat, in the bleachers by a swimming pool, on the beach, or on a long flight in an airplane.”

FINIS will formally launch its Axis Buoy on September 9th.

Copyright © 2015 by World Open Water Swimming Association
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