Showing up at the pool to find one or two faded kickboards sitting in the bin -- missing pieces of foam and featuring a few questionable indentations -- is never encouraging. If you're ready to start bringing your own kickboard to make sure you're not stuck with a castoff, we'd recommend the TYR Classic Kickboard. As its name suggests, it's a basic, traditional design made to keep you afloat so you can focus on building a stronger kick in the pool. TYR shapes it out of closed-cell EVA foam that can withstand more than a few brushes with the wall without falling apart, so you're free to focus on your burning legs rather than a disintegrating board.