I am not really a lab person, I don't care for the conformation look or the field look actually (though I do love Virgo's look, she seems to have more substance then the field lines I've seen, but isn't so thick as the confo. lines).
I have only seen one lab that I would actually like to own, she was at an AKC event (though she definitally would have been laughed out of the ring) and was competing in obedience. She was much shorter then the field lines (some I've seen have looong legs, doesn't even look purebred), but wasn't bulky at all like the show labs. She had clear muscle tone, you could see a hint of rib, but definitally looked like she'd do fine in cold waters. I swear, I have never seen a dog get so many complements before in my whole life, people talking outside the ring about the dog, and actually walking up and complementing the owner. I just wish I could remember the name of the kennel that was on the handler's shirt, but it was years ago and I didn't even think about writing it down. *smacks self with newspaper*