To whom it may concern,

Dear friends of fin swimming,

After seeing my name and an athletes of mine name in a recent e-mail I received, I am glad I am given the opportunity to give some answers especially to athletes of the Olympic range.

Firstly I would like to make clear to you that I am not against the presence of the new fin. What I come to disagreement with is the way it is promoted, and the whole situation that has been going on for the past years. The result is that the image of the sport is negative, and it based on amateuristic actions. As a result we distance ourselves from our aim which is to make the sport Olympic. To make a long story short, I have mentioned in previous e-mails the terms under which cmas should ensure a smooth introduction of every type of new fin.

As a trainer my views and my actions had as a goal to protect the athletes years of hard work. As a previous athlete I always fight the people that take advantage of the effort and the fame of athletes in order to gain more than they deserve.

I would like to lay some questions to the athletes that have signed the last e-mail.

- What would happen if an athlete would do hard training that would exhaust him financially and physically for 4 years and when he would finally reach the results he wanted as a reward to his talent, to suddenly find out that someone had found a better fin, and that at a critical game he could lose to someone competitively worse.

- What would happen when he would compromise with the idea that he lost from a worse athlete only because he had better technical means?

- What if tries to find something equally good to overcome the new demands and the answer he gets is “we can’t find the fin because the manufacturers provide it only to your opponents”

- And what if he could find the fin somehow, and realize that the price he has to pay to acquire it is 3 times higher than what his opponents pay.

These are a few of the thousand questions that can rise in order to protect the basic condition under which a sport is characterized respectable. The right to fight under equal terms.

I would like to make clear that the above thoughts do not concern my athlete (Christina Papoutsidi), since her name was mentioned, because she was faster than all her competitors that had the new fins, breaking the European record.

In the previous e-mail some athletes mentioned that the new type fins would not cause physical trauma. What makes them certain? How do they know the long term effects if they have only been using them for a short amount of time? Have they studied the long-term aggravation that may be caused in young less trained athletes?

The doctors I work with insist that this new type fin is more aggravating to the athlete’s body.

The old type fin may also be of some burden to the body, but since it has been out for a long time, it is to our knowledge how to protect the athletes well being. With the new fin and hence anything new, due to its short time around there is no medical proof so that the Olympic Federation can give it’s approval to at least put it at an experimental state for the trainers to follow, and protect their athletes.

It is statistically obvious that the new type fin helps one go faster, but does it guarantee safety?

An old view that states that it is the trainer’s obligation to make, give, and test the new fins on the athlete uncontrollably, creates only uncertainty about the validity of the conditions of the fin, and as a result have an injured athlete with great profit for him and the trainer.

In my opinion for anyone who likes to be called a respectable professional should aim on the training improvement and the safety of the athlete, and not on the profit of selling the fins.

My athlete competed wearing the old type fin and won her competitors that were wearing the “new technology” ones. When she tried to swim with the new model fin she did worse, due to the fact that her physique had developed differently in the 4 years of training with the old fin.

If I want to be called a serious trainer I would be obligated to listen to cmas’ opinion and bring her to the top with the new standards. If her effort was reassured safety based on any new material introduced, then I would be more than happy to see along with the new technological evolution her improvement coming with its time.

Some may be right when they say that we don’t have the financial means, and compromise by preserving the current situation for the sport to be kept alive, but then I would like the Olympic Federation to find a solution to this problem, otherwise the words progress, gravity, professionalism, as well as Olympics will remain a distant dream.

If the manufacturer brings out a new fin that has been tested and approved by cmas for meeting the requirements, I certainly think that he should be rewarded financially. But the numbers of profit that correspond to the seller of this advanced fin are definitely much higher than they deserve. To have a trainer who wants this situation to remain uncontrollable and amateuristic- for profit’s sake- is unacceptable.

For years we hear cmas say that they are trying to bring the game to the Olympics, but under these circumstances I don’t see it happening.

Don’t athletes and trainer together see that they are discouraging the sport’s financial and ethical development? By getting the sport to the Olympics the profit would be even higher than what it already is to those few that perpetuate this current situation.

Personally I am certain that my expectations will not take form. I have decided to withdraw from trainer of fin swimming. I have served the sport for 14 years. With my studies at the University of Physical Education, I believed that I would see the knowledge I gained to materialize in fin swimming. Unfortunately I learned that I need to get involved in more actions, in order to survive as a trainer, than what I am willing to.

I wish to the athletes and trainers from all over the world that know me, good luck, and for the circumstances to change and see fin swimming to the place it deserves to be.

Good luck

Vagelis Georgilas

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