Ryka Womens Hydro Sport Cross Training Water Shoe

The shoes were wet when I took the picture. I do water aerobics/HIIT, aqua zumba, and stretching/stability 5 days a week and I'm typically in the pool for 1-2 hours each day. Someone in class recommended Ryka because they had their shoes for a couple of years and they were still in good shape; she typically does deep water classes. I do shallow water classes so I put a decently significant side load on my shoes as well as dragging the toe on the floor of the pool when I stretch so I tend to go through shoes pretty quickly. I had a cheaper pair that lasted me about 6 months but the shoes had really only lasted about a week before I noticed damage. I have been using this Ryka pair for about 6 weeks and I do like them; they are supportive and the craftsmanship seems pretty good. I really like that it has normal laces and a cinch tab instead of the bungee laces because they bungee doesn't last long in the chlorine (I also tend to snap it on my fingers trying to get them tight enough after they start to loosen) the normal laces don't stretch so they stay put throughout class. The one thing I don't like about them is that they are very buoyant. I don't like the assist, especially when trying to work on core exercises. I can tell throughout class that my feet feel "lighter" so I would prefer if they didn't float so well but the training shoe design of the sole is helpful for my knees. The fabric (not the support) in the heel felt looser after the first week but it hasn't changed since. The pool I swim in is way over chlorinated (it eats my suits in about 75 hrs in the pool and bleached made my hair so badly that where I wore a bobby pin my hair broke (not my entire head just the bottom baby hairs that get wet in class but getting my hair wet with two water first, and not wearing a bobby pin, has helped with bleaching)) so the fact it's not disintegrated by now is good. The one thing I'm confused with is those little plastic pieces o took a picture of. My right shoe, since the first time I wore it, keeps getting these little white plastic pieces in it. I have looked in these shoes and removed any plastic piece I see but I've done this three or four times and I keep getting them. My left shoe is fine. I can't figure out anything in the shoe or pool that would generate brittle plastic pieces but they are not comfortable to step on (they come up through the holes in the insert). Yesterday I made sure no plastic pieces were in my shoes but today after class I removed all of those pieces from my shoe. Just curious if anyone else has had that experience.TL;DR I would recommend them but they are a bit overpriced in my opinion. I wish they were $50-55 but I had to get a half size so they were $70. At that price Merrell isn't much more expensive (I haven't tried their water shoe yet but I probably will for my next pair)