Case study: SwimFin - Closed Cell Polyethylene Foam

The client

Kevin Moseley: a swimming instructor turned inventor

The challenge

Kevin Moseley could see a problem with armbands. As a swimming instructor he saw that a child’s armbands make them float upright, with their arms and head out of the water. The rest of their body and their legs hang downwards – below the water – making it harder to swim, not easier.

Kevin got a swimming float, cut it up and glued it into a shape resembling a shark’s fin. He strapped it around a child’s back and realised that the weight of the float actually suspended the child horizontally. This meant that the child’s arms were free, and they could learn to swim in the right position – horizontally. This was a much better way to teach kids to swim than with inflatable armbands.

Kevin came to us and we made him some samples – a little neater than what he had done with a carving knife in his kitchen.

He took the fin to the National Swimming Association, who instantly understood the concept. They said: “If you can develop this product, we will happily recommend it to all UK swimming instructors” – which number in the thousands. From that point on it became a valid business opportunity, as he knew he had a product he could sell in volume.