by
Olivier Poirier-Leroy
The swimmer’s snorkel is a staple for swimmers. FINIS’ latest snorkel, the Stability Snorkel, is a big leap forward. Here’s a first-hand review of the FINIS Stability Snorkel.
FINIS is the O.G. in the swim snorkel game. They patented the first center-mounted swim snorkel back in the 1980s, and their trademark-gold snorkels have become essential for the modern competitive swimmer.
The benefits of using a swimmer’s snorkel are almost endless.
You can drop the kickboard and flutter kick your way to a faster kick with better positioning. Without the side-to-side breathing that jolts you out of alignment, a snorkel allows you to get a sense of what it’s like to swim straight and balanced. It’s also fun to see how high you can purge water.
But like other pieces of swim gear and equipment, the snorkel isn’t perfect.
Past editions, including the FINIS Original Swimmer’s snorkel, did have some drawbacks:
With the Stability Snorkel, FINIS looked to fix these problems and deliver a faster, more streamlined snorkel for competitive swimmers.
After picking one up, I went down to the local pool, strapped it to my face, and put it through its paces.
Here’s my review of the FINIS Stability Snorkel, and why it ranks as one of the best swim snorkels for swimming fast.
The Stability Snorkel is surprisingly light. This surprised me—but I guess when you remove the head bracket and replace the head strap with thin silicone straps you are going to lose some weight.
You can twist the mouthpiece when the snorkel is not in use. Finally! Instead of twisting the snorkel across your face, you can twist the mouthpiece to the side when you are hanging on the side of the wall. Simple function, but much appreciated.
Overall length of the snorkel is also adjusted at the mouthpiece. Whether you have a long or short face/head, the mouthpiece slides up and down the tube until the mouthpiece sits comfortably in your mouth.
Doesn’t wobble at higher speeds. After a quick warm-up I strapped on the Stability Snorkel and some fins. I pushed off and swim full max, and the snorkel barely moved. The two silicone head straps help secure the tube from the turbulence of fast-moving water. Great success!
The head bracket sits comfortably at the top of the head. One of the main drawbacks of the older FINIS snorkels was the head bracket digging in a concentrated surface area on the forehead. The head bracket on the Stability Snorkel is vertical and “sits” on the top of your forehead. Far more comfortable.
Less moving pieces. As mentioned earlier, the snaps on the side of the head bracket were prone to cracking after a few months. It wasn’t the end of the world—in a pinch you can loop the head strap in and tie it into a knot. With less moving parts, the Stability Snorkel—after a few practices using it, at least—looks to last longer than its predecessor.
The Stability snorkel is more curved, with the tube that acts like a blowhole when you expel air wrapping over the top of your head.
Here you can see the difference in the bend of the tube:
I’ve always been a keener on the snorkel. It’s such a versatile weapon for improving your performance in the pool. I love swimming with it, doing drill work, kicking and even sculling to refine my feel for the water.
As such, since getting my hands on this snorkel I have been using it like crazy. It’s comfortable, stays on—even when sprinting off the wall with fins and paddles—and I really appreciate that you can twist the mouth-piece when chilling on the wall and yapping it up with other people in the lane.
The Stability Snorkel is a big leap forward for FINIS and lands atop my list of best swim snorkels. Highly recommended.
The Stability Snorkel comes in four different color combos (including the classic gold that FINIS uses with most of its products).
The snorkel is one of the most versatile items in your mesh bag. Try these 3 sneaky ways to get better with your swim snorkel at practice.
Olivier Poirier-Leroy Olivier Poirier-Leroy is the founder of YourSwimLog.com. He is an author, former national level swimmer, two-time Olympic Trials qualifier, and swim coach.
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