Exactly and that makes sense. The entire "streamlining" thing is way overblown. I know of no studies that have ever been done that has measured the streamlining of a BP/W vs a Jacket BC, and considering the way most dives are conducted, if there was a difference, it would hardly matter.
You don't need a scientific study to see and appreciate that a Corvette is faster than a Volkswagen Beetle.
Add high end Freedive fins to a floppy jacket bc diver, then the same fins with a slick bp/wing on this diver, and the comfortable , non-exertive speed difference is amazing...to the diver and anyone watching. One proviso is that the diver MUST know how to properly kick good freedive fins, as there is a real coordination for this most divers don't have on their first few uses of....
If the corvette and the Beetle had the same power engine, the differences drivers felt would be drastically reduced.....But the engine that is about 4 times or more powerful in the corvette, makes the turning, stopping, and overall feel very different. In other words, with a floppy jacket BC, and some floppy split fins, you just don't swim fast enough for the streamlining differences to come into play.
Have you never seen how much faster a good freediver is than a scuba diver.....or the effortless big kick and 10 foot long glide the freediver can do, versus the scuba diver that can barely glide more than a half a second before the jacket stops them like air brakes?
Speed just showcases/exagerates the difference in drag between the floppy jackets and the bp/wing with 20 or 30 pound wings.
Big kick and long glide, will do the same thing, without any assumption that high speed is desirable....just slow heart rate and low breathing rate--ultra low exertion to travel a given distance, due to absence of drag and ability to "coast".
