@jerola: Yes, I love being able to listen to books while I swim, though I'm afraid I've missed my chance at the Olympics.

I use my
Delphin for that, but it's hardly what I'd call 'basic', and the price is pretty steep.
As for an MP3 player that's just an MP3 player? Not sure. I know some like Sansa Clip, but don't know about features on it. And there's always iPods. The Nano was a good size for me, and handles most things I needed it to do.