Swimming Techniques and Physics

Swimming Techniques and Physics

Presently scientist are conducting research to help people gain new techniques in swimming. While scientists continue research for new swimming techniques, they must start with early techniques of swimming as a sport and part of life. Learning how to swim is not easy. However, swimming is physics. There are laws, buoyancy, drags, and motions. To become a good swimmer one should take initiative to learn how certain techniques evolved and take an active approach into applying these physics into their own strokes. This report will state a brief summary of the physics of swimming and its mechanics and then continue by describing the technique of the freestyle and backstrokes.

A beginner swimmer must learn how to float in water. This is known as buoyancy, water that exerts an upward force against an object to the weight of the water that would be pushed aside by the object. For example, take three glass bottles the same size, each bottle weighs one pound and can hold five pounds of water. Leave one bottle empty, seal it, and place it in water. Now the bottle floats high in the water with the majority of the bottle above the surface. Then take the second bottle, fill it with three pounds of water, and place the bottle in the water. Second bottle will float vertical in the water. Finally, put five pounds of water in the third bottle and insert it into the water. The third bottle will sink to the bottom but will sink vertical. Therefore, first bottle floats because it weighs one pound but pushes aside ten pounds of water. Thus, it would take some effort to push the empty bottle underwater. This is called buoyancy. The second bottle also floats but floats vertical because three pounds ...

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...e theories on how to apply these laws may differ but the results are clear. World record times are being lowered more than ever. Perfecting technique and training methods are evolving to an ever-changing sport. For example, Brooke Bennett's coach "use(s) a set of 10 x 300 meter swims with 20 seconds rest, during which period the swimmers take their pulse and (he) record(s) their times and heart rates. The swims are done at a consistent level of effort with the swimmers instructed to maintain the highest possible heart rate" (Banks, 1997). This method can be done to achieve anaerobic threshold. Another method to achieve this is hypoxic training in which the swimmer controls how often they breath, usually only a couple of times for each 25 meters. Once both the stroke technique and the training methods are optimal for swimmer then the swimming is at its best.