Problem

I’ve been a competitive swimmer since I was very young. For me, swimming is like breathing, I can’t imagine not being able to do it! But my amputated hand is too weak to hold up to the pressure of the water in either an open palm or a closed fist position. For a while, I tried swimming with just my left arm and let my entire right arm drag behind me, but that quickly led to muscle imbalances, and I could foresee overuse injuries on the horizon.

Evolution of Solutions

I needed a way to protect my hand from the water so I could use my right arm for swimming. My first solution was a co-poly clamshell shaped over a plaster model of my fist. This held my hand comfortably in a fist and I could swim longer distances again.

But with a fist on one side and an open hand on the other, my stroke had a significant limp. So, I expanded the enclosed fist concept into a full-sized hand to replace the surface area I was missing. I shaped it over a swimming training paddle so that it would have a proper palm shape and be compatible with paddles.

With the clamshell hand, I could swim strong and fast again with no limp! Which also meant I could rebuild the strength on my right side too!

But while a lifetime in the water has ingrained the proper wrist and arm angles for maximum propulsive force in the water, I was missing out on that critical “feel for the water” that makes the difference between good and great swimmers. And without that feel for the water, swimming butterfly was out of the question. Plus the clamshell design meant frequent removals to allow my sweaty hand to stretch and breathe during a workout.

What I really needed was a design that would give me both the feel for the water and protection from it. A half-hand paddle design that replicated my unamputated hand and allowed the functional part of my hand to be free while the dysfunctional part stayed protected and stable.

The first time I tried the half-hand paddle, I was amazed at how natural it felt! I was even able to swim butterfly for the first time in 10 years! And it was so comfortable that I didn’t want to remove it until I got to the showers!

But the real value in this design is that because I can feel the water, I feel comfortable getting back into group swimming without the fear of smacking my fellow swimmers with a big plastic hand. And while it may never be legal in a competition, it will allow me to get back into swimming shape and be a part of the swimming community again.