Arena Powerfin Pro II Fins (Review) – Elite Training Fins for Swimmers

The Arena Powerfins Pro II are high-performance short-blade swim fins that rank as the best all-around fins for training. Here’s our in-the-water review and how it compares to other training fins.

The Arena Powerfins Pro II are a short-blade swim fin that is made specifically for high-adaptation training.

What does that mean?

The Powerfins’s short blade mimics the tempo swimmers use when kicking, the contoured edges direct water displacement in a way that is similar to our usual kick, and the open heel design means we can kick aggressively and with a full range of motion.

Which makes the Arena Powerfins Pro II our ongoing top swim training fins in our annual roundups going back to 2017.

But what makes these fins so special and so effective for swim training? And are challengers like the DMC Elite Max, in some ways much superior, up to the task of dethroning our champ?

In this detailed review of the Arena Powerfins Pro II, we’ll evaluate the fins strengths and weaknesses, compare them to the competition, and much more.

Buckle up and let’s get our Powerfins on!

Arena Powerfin Pro II Fins – The Pros

There are a lot of reasons to love these fins, from their use with elite competitive swimmers to color choices to high-performance features.

✅ Silicone construction for comfort and durability.

The training fins of yesteryear—and many budget mid- and long-blade training fins of today—were made of natural rubber. This material is soft and relatively durable, but compared to silicone, it’s not even a race.

The 100% silicone construction of the Arena Powerfins Pro II is the ultimate in durability and comfort.

These fins will simply not crack or corrode, no matter how hard you kick or how overly chlorinated your training pool may be. The silicone construction also has another big benefit: the soft shell doesn’t blister the skin off your feet when kicking for extended periods of time.

Silicone construction = durability and comfort, and the Powerfins lock this benefit down.

✅ Short-blade design

The key performance feature of these fins is the short blade design. There are several key benefits of short-blade fins for high-performance swim training, not the least of which is that the shorter blade better mimics the kick tempo used when kicking and swimmer.

The short blades on the Powerfins are important for faster acceleration (e.g. you don’t have to wait half-a-lap to get up to top velocity as with long fins), reduced knee bend, and faster turns.

While there are benefits to longer fins for increased buoyancy and reduced fin weight (short blade fins tend to be significantly heavier and harder to kick with compared to long fin rubber fins), short bladed fins like the Powerfins are where it’s at.

✅ Edges for targeted water displacement

The Arena Powerfins feature raised edges along both sides of the fins. This helps swimmers to “catch” more water when kicking, displacing more water and generating more thrust and propulsion.

Which is a long-winded way of saying that you kick faster and more efficiently.

If you’ve ever used a rubber long fin without edges, and sometimes felt like your feet were “slipping” through the water, this is probably the reason.

The Powerfins ensures that when swimmers kick up and down, the vortices are stronger and don’t shed off into the deep end, reducing speeds.

✅ Open heel design for increased range of motion

The fins use an open heel design that is a) awesome as handles to carry the fins and b) promote a natural and full range of movement.

Any swimmer who used “stiff” or closed heel fins knows the frustration of having the heel pocket of the fin dig into the back of their feet when kicking at a high tempo in the water.

The open heel design on the Powerfin Pro II means swimmers can kick with a full and complete range of motion, leading to more applicable skill and strength transfer to your regular kicking when not using fins.

✅ Ergonomic foot design for natural kicking motion

The Arena Powerfin Pro II has an ergonomic fin design, where the left and right fins are shaped specifically to fit each foot.

This has an obvious benefit in that it is more comfortable, but you may not realize how important this actually is. When swimmers are dolphin kicking, for example, the big toes come together at the bottom of the downkick. Due to the bulk of swim fins, it’s difficult to do this, but with fins shaped to the specific foot, you can better replicate this action.

Fly kicking, as well as freestyle kicking, uses slight hip rotations in the kick motion to creating a stronger “whip” effect, and an asymmetrical fin design provides a more natural fit that mirrors the mechanics of natural kicking.

Because the Powerfins Pro II are shaped to match the contours of each foot, swimmers further minimize the risk of ouch-ouch blisters and discomfort, leading to more time spent kicking and less time debating wearing neoprene socks the next time you wear fins at swim practice.

✅ Lots of colorway options

Compared to other 100% silicone short blade swim training fins, like those made by DMC Fins, TYR, and Speedo, Arena offers the Powerfins in a broad range of colors and color patterns.

There are the standard neon green and hot pink that seems dominate most swimmers’ mesh bags, but there is the rare all-black colorway, lots of color patterns (red/black, for example) and other special edition colors like gold.

Color choices aren’t exactly a performance feature, but for those who subscribe to “look good, kick good,” like the author does, color options is important.

Arena Powerfins Pro II – The Cons

No fins, no matter how much I love using them, are perfect, and this is certainly the case with the Powerfins. Here is where it falls a bit short:

❌ A little stiffer than the DMC Elites

The DMC Elite Max fins are the other “best” swim training fin in the pool, and where it does outperform the Powerfins is the supple silicone that is used in their construction.

The DMC Max Elites are made with silicone so soft that you can easily fold them in half like a soft shell taco. Hopefully, future editions of the Powerfins Pro II will incorporate this tender silicone that makes kicking such a pleasure with the Max Elites.

Arena Powerfins Pro II vs. DMC Max Elite

These two training fins are easily the best in the pool for serious swimmers looking for high-performance fins.

The main differences are the type of silicone used, price, colorways, and size options. The DMC Max Elite are slightly larger at the XL range, going up to a men’s size 14, while the Powerfins top out at 13.

Here is a look at how the two fins stack up:

Both fins are very similar, but the subtle differences can make an impact on comfort and performance when in the water.

The Bottom Line

The Arena Powerfin Pro II has long reigned supreme our rankings of the best training fins for competitive swimmers.

The fins do it all (almost): Silicone construction for excellent durability and comfort. High-performance features like rails on the edges for water displacement and an open heel design. Lots of colors to choose from. And that short-blade design we go crazy over for its application to regular kicking and swimming.

For swimmers looking for:

• A short-blade fin that is comfortable and made for high-speed training
• Open heels so that they can kick with a full kick and not worry about restrictions
• Silicone construction that will last longer than the last swim workout before taper
• Lots of color options to style up their swimming accessories

The Arena Powerfin Pro II are the perfect choice. Grab yourself a set, crank up your kick strength and fitness and do so in comfort and style.