Swim Attachment

A comparo between the three swimming attachments (which I'm aware of) for SL:
As a long-time user of WaterWorks - The Swimmer! (only available in-world, which might explain the good reviews sLwim is getting), I'm finding it hard to understand what all the fuss is about with sLwim. The animations in it are truly awful, and Aussie Crawl / freestyle (the most commonly used one) by far the worst. The sound effects and wavelets around the swimmer treading water are good, but the programme has trouble with transitions between water and land, sometimes allowing me to walk a few steps, but if I stop, dropping me down in a foot of water to tread water again! As someone who sails and surfs most of the time and wears a swimming attachment permanently, I'm fussy about the functionality of a product. This one's only advantage is that it can be 'forced' to swim in prim water. Otherwise, The Swimmer! wins hands down. It's truly 'attach and forget', has the best HUD and even has the option for backstroke when going backward (although you must provide your own animation; it's modifiable to add animations). The third contender, Swim Attachment (this one), has the best, most realistic animations by a 20% margin, but spoils it all by having no splash and sound effects, requiring to be attached and detached while already in the water and in flying mode (!), zooming you backwards over the water surface if the back key is pressed (can't swim backwards in other words), being unable to swim underwater (as the other two can, by pressing the 'C' or Pg Down key) and is an almighty hassle to use if you're in and out of the water frequently: and of course, totally useless if you want it to float you to the surface when you capsize your boat or otherwise land in the drink. I'm sticking to WaterWorks - The Swimmer! (more expensive, but you get what you pay for), and I wish I hadn't wasted my Lindens on the other two. I'm only giving this one 2 stars because it has such a good animation, although real Aussie Crawl / freestyle would have the avatar's body rolling from side to side much more. As someone who grew up next to a Sydney beach and had a swimming pool in the backyard, can't remember not being able to swim and can swim like a fish in all styles, I think I know my strokes. Hope this helps.