Editing Swimfin (section)

==History==
Early inventors, including [[Leonardo da Vinci]] and [[Giovanni Alfonso Borelli]], toyed with the concept of swimfins, taking their inspiration from [[duck]]s' feet.<ref name=davis1955>{{cite book |author=Davis, RH |title=Deep Diving and Submarine Operations |year=1955 |edition=6th |publisher=[[Siebe Gorman|Siebe Gorman & Company Ltd]] |location=Tolworth, Surbiton, Surrey |author-link=Robert Davis (inventor) }}</ref> [[Benjamin Franklin]] made a pair of early swimfins (for hands) when he was a young boy living in [[Boston, Massachusetts]] near the [[Charles River]]; they were two thin pieces of wood, about the shape of an artist's [[Palette (painting)|palette]], which allowed him to move faster than he usually did in the water.<ref>{{cite web |title=Benjamin Franklin (USA) 1968 Honor Contributor |publisher=International Swimming Hall of Fame |url=http://www.ishof.org/honorees/68/68bfranklin.html |access-date=2009-05-29 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090709140530/http://www.ishof.org/honorees/68/68bfranklin.html |archive-date=2009-07-09 }}</ref>

[[File:Női portré 1974, Damjanich uszoda. Fortepan 8999.jpg|thumb|right|By 1974, modern-looking swimfins in regular use in landlocked, "[[Second World|second-world]]" Hungary.]]
Modern swimfins are an invention by the Frenchman [[Louis de Corlieu]], ''capitaine de corvette'' ([[Lieutenant Commander]]) in the [[French Navy]]. In 1914 Corlieu made a practical demonstration of his first [[prototype]] for a group of navy officers, [[Yves le Prieur]] among them<ref name="AlainPerrier">Alain Perrier, ''250 réponses aux questions du plongeur curieux'', Éditions du Gerfaut, Paris, 2008, {{ISBN|978-2-35191-033-7}} (p.65, in French)</ref> who, years later in 1926, invented an early model of [[scuba set]]. Corlieu left the French Navy in 1924 to fully devote himself to his invention.<ref>In the 1950s ''capitaine de frégate'' ([[Commander]]) [[Philippe Tailliez]] still was thinking that Corlieu conceived his fins for the first time in 1924 (in fact he'd started ten years earlier). See page 14 in Capitaine de frégate PHILIPPE TAILLIEZ, ''Plongées sans câble'', Arthaud, Paris, January 1954, Dépôt légal 1er trimestre 1954 - Édition N° 605 - Impression N° 243 (in French)</ref> In April 1933 he registered a patent (number 767013, which in addition to two fins for the feet included two spoon-shaped fins for the hands) and called this equipment ''propulseurs de natation et de sauvetage'' (which can be translated literally as "swimming and rescue propulsion device").<ref name="AlainPerrier" />

[[File:1959 CPA 2372.jpg|thumb|left|1959 Soviet postage stamp with image of finned recreational diver in tribute to the [[DOSAAF|DOSAAF sport organisation]].]]
After struggling for years, even producing his fins in his own [[apartment|flat]] in [[Paris]], Louis de Corlieu finally started [[mass production]] of his invention in France in 1939. The same year he issued a licence to [[Owen Churchill]] for mass production in the [[United States]]. To sell his fins in the U.S., Owen Churchill changed the French Corlieu's name (''propulseurs'') to "swimfins", which is still the common [[English language|English]] name. Churchill presented his fins to the [[United States Navy|US Navy]], which decided to acquire them for its [[Underwater Demolition Team]] (UDT). [[United States|American]] UDT and [[United Kingdom|British]] COPP [[Frogman|frogmen]] (COPP: [[Combined Operations Pilotage Parties]]) used the "Churchill fins" during all prior underwater [[demining]]s, thus enabling in 1944 the [[Normandy landings]]. During the years after [[World War II]] had ended, De Corlieu spent time and efforts struggling in [[civil procedure]]s, suing others for [[patent infringement]].<ref>Alain Perrier, ''250 réponses aux questions du plongeur curieux'', Éditions du Gerfaut, Paris, 2008, {{ISBN|978-2-35191-033-7}} (p.66, in French)</ref>

In Britain, [[Dunlop Rubber|Dunlop]] made [[British commando frogmen|frogman's]] fins for World War II, but after the war saw no market for them in peacetime, and, after the first supply of war-surplus frogman's kit was used up, the British public had no access to swimfins (except for home-made attempts such as gluing [[marine plywood]] to [[plimsolls]]), until [[Oscar Gugen]] began importing swimfins and swimming [[goggles]] from [[France]].<ref name=davis1955/><!-- dead link 2008-08-25<ref>{{cite web |author=BSAC |url=http://www.bsac.org/techserv/ndc/doc2003/rlvrep.htm }}</ref> -->

In 1946 [[Lillywhites]] imported about 1,100 pairs of swimfins; they all sold in under 3 months.<ref>''Historical Diving Society Magazine'', issue 47 (summer 2009), pages 12 etseq, ISSN 1368-0390</ref>

In 1948 [[Luigi Ferraro (naval officer)|Luigi Ferraro]], collaborating with the Italian diving equipment company [[Cressi-sub]], designed the first full-foot fin, the Rondine, named after the Italian word for [[swallow]]. A distinctive feature of Cressi's continuing Rondine full-foot fin line is the embossed outline of the bird on the foot pockets and the blades.

After The Amphibians Club,<ref>[http://www.amphibiansclub.co.uk/ ''The Original Amphibians'']. Retrieved 7 December 2019.</ref> the UK's first post-war sport diving club, was founded by [[Ivor Howitt]] and friends in 1948 in [[Aberdeenshire]], "swim fins were made by wiring stiff rubber piping each side of a flap of [[inner tube]] rubber. Very uncomfortable, but they worked. As secretary of The Amphibians, (Howitt) wrote to the [[Dunlop Rubber Company]] in February 1949, as they had made the naval frogmen's fins during the war. Incredibly, they replied that they could see no commercial market for swim fins in peacetime. This response reflected the virtual non-existence of sport diving in the UK at that time."<ref>Sophie Fraser: [https://divenewzealand.co.nz/article-78/ ''Pioneers: Ivor Howitt- Memories of an Aberdeen Amphibian'']. Retrieved 7 December 2019.</ref><ref>Lauren Smith: [https://divernet.com/2019/11/24/return-of-the-amphibians/ ''Return of the Amphibians'']. Retrieved 7 December 2019.</ref>
[[File:DIN 7876-A.jpg|thumb|Swim fin sole showing compliance with German standard DIN 7876:1980]]
Seven military, national and international standards relating to swimfins are known to exist: [[United States Military Standard|US military standard]] MIL-S-82258:1965;<ref>US military standard MIL-S-82258 (1965) ''Swim Fins, Rubber''. Document found online at https://assist.dla.mil. Retrieved 9 December 2014.</ref> [[Soviet Union|USSR]] and [[Commonwealth of Independent States|CIS]] standard [[GOST]] 22469—77 (Active);<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://pdf.standartgost.ru/catalog/Data2/1/4294831/4294831427.pdf|title=Standards Publishing House (1977) ''Межгосударственный Стандарт ГОСТ 22469—77. Ласты резиновые для плавания. Общие технические условия. Swimming rubber flippers. General specifications'', ИПК Издательство стандартов, Moscow. Document found online at pdf.standartgost.ru, retrieved 16 March 2019}}</ref> [[Deutsches Institut für Normung|German standard]] [[DIN 7876|DIN 7876:1980]];<ref>[[Deutsches Institut für Normung]] (1980) DIN 7876 ''Tauchzubehör – Schwimmflossen – Maße, Anforderungen und Prüfung. Diving accessories for skin divers; Flippers, dimensions, requirements and testing''. Beutz Verlag GmbH, Berlin.</ref> [[:pl:Norma branżowa|Polish Industry Standard]] BN-82/8444-17.02. (Active).<ref>{{Cite report|url=http://bc.pollub.pl/dlibra/publication/2953?language=pl|title=Gumowy sprzęt pływacki - Płetwy pływackie BN-82/8444-17.02 - Biblioteka Cyfrowa Politechniki Lubelskiej |last1=Wasielewski |first1=Ireneusz |last2=Wasielewski |first2=Ireneusz }}</ref> [[Austrian Standards International|Austrian standard]] ÖNORM S 4224:1988;<ref>Austrian standard ÖNORM S 4224 (1988) ''Tauch-Zubehör; Schwimmflossen; Abmessungen, sicherheitstechnische Anforderungen, Prüfung, Normkennzeichnung. Diving accessories; fins; dimensions, safety requirements, testing, marking of conformity'', [[Austrian Standards International]].</ref> [[Department of Standards Malaysia|Malaysian standards]] MS 974:1985;<ref>Malaysian standard MS 974 (1985) ''Specification for rubber swimming fins'', SIRIM Standards & Industrial Research Institute of Malaysia.</ref> MS 974:2002 (Active);<ref>Malaysian standard MS 974 (2002) ''Specification for rubber swimming fins. First revision'', Department of Standards Malaysia.</ref> and [[European standard]] EN 16804:2015 (Active).<ref>[[European standard]] EN 16804 (2015) ''Diving equipment. Diving open heel fins. Requirements and test methods'', [[British Standards Institution]].</ref>