Prototype of a Swim Fin patented by Owen Churchill
date: label: date made
content: 1939
name: label: associated person
content: Churchill, Owen
notes: label: Description (Brief)
content: Black rubber fin is with a strap at the heel with black tape holding it together. There is a section for the foot and the rubber of the fin has been hand carved into the shape desired. This is a working model for Owen Churchill's swim fin design, 1939. Churchill was the first to design and patent the swim fin and his were the only manufactured fins from 1940 to 1947. According to Churchill, they were used by the United States underwater demolition teams of the U.S. Navy and the British Admiralty during World War II.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
topic: label: name of sport
content: Swimming
label: level of sport
content: recreational
label: web subject
content: Sports
label: web subject
content: Invention
setName: label: See more items in
content: Culture and the Arts: Sport and Leisure
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Owen T. Churchill
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: 1983.0200.01
label: accession number
content: 1983.0200
label: catalog number
content: 1983.0200.01
objectType: label: Object Name
content: swim fin
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: rubber (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 3 in x 18 1/2 in x 8 1/2 in; 7.62 cm x 46.99 cm x 21.59 cm