Swimming and Cycling

867 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Swimming competition introduction

Competitive Swimming
People have been swimming since the Stone Age, but it wasn’t until the 1830’s in England when swimming became a competitive sport. This was a direct result from the creation of the first indoor artificial swimming pool in 1828. The Olympic Games adopted swimming in 1896 but were held in open water for the first four Olympics. In the 1908 Summer Olympics a 100m pool was built which marks the first artificial Olympic pool. Pools of 50m and 25m are more commonly used today and implement the use of electronic timing which has made the results of competitions significantly more accurate.
The objective of competitive swimming is to be the fastest to swim a particular length of water using a certain swimming style. Relay events and individual events are both available in competitive swimming. The rules and regulations of swimming are set out by the Fédération Internationale de Natation (FINA). There are a few key rules that should be noted to avoid disqualification in competitive swimming. A false start will lead to immediate disqualification even when participating in a relay event and can be devastating to the team or individual. The other key rules are based on technique used in races. One common disqualification occurs in breaststroke and butterfly, where the swimmer is required to touch the wall simultaneously with both hands parallel for every turn and finish.
Competitive swimming can be considered endurance based and strength based, depending on the distance and stroke. 25m, 50m and even 100m freestyle can all be swum under a minute by the average competitive swimmer. This means that anaerobic respiration is most useful for sprinter type swimmers. On the other hand aerobic respiration is more beneficial for...

... middle of paper ...

... sometimes even death.
Doping is a very big problem in road cycling and has been around for a long time. The earliest incidents of doping date back to 1886 which is only two decades after the first race. However, doping was not illegal until 1964 and is still constantly being revised. The biggest doping scandal (possibly in any sport) involved former 7 time Tour de France winner Neil Armstrong who was stripped of all his victories when he admitted to doping.
Combination with field of study
I would integrate Sport Science with Computer Science/Business by making a software application that is able to tell the user their approximate vo2max using the sub maximal tests. The application will ask you to select one of the submaximal tests and then would time you. Afterwards, it will be able to calculate your approximate vo2max using the data and equations for that test.

Show More
Related

  • Determination of Maximal Oxygen Consumption Lab Report

    1278 Words  | 3 Pages

    In this lab, we explored the theory of maximal oxygen consumption. “Maximal oxygen uptake (VO2max) is defined as the highest rate at which oxygen can be taken up and utilized by the body during severe exercise” (Bassett and Howley, 2000). VO2max is measured in millimeters of O2 consumed per kilogram of body weight per min (ml/kg/min). It is commonly known as a good way to determine a subject’s cardio-respiratory endurance and aerobic fitness level. Two people whom are given the same aerobic task (can both be considered “fit”) however, the more fit individual can consume more oxygen to produce enough energy to sustain higher, intense work loads during exercise. The purpose of this lab experiment was performed to determine the VO2max results of a trained vs. an untrained participant to see who was more fit.

    Read More

  • Muscular System In Swimming

    985 Words  | 2 Pages

    Muscles involved in freestyle and backstroke are the arm’s muscles which is the brachioradialis (forearm flex muscle), thenars (hand muscle), biceps, flexor digitorum profundus (forearm extend muscle), triceps and deltoids (shoulder muscle). In addition, the neck muscles (sternocleidomastoid) do involved too. As for the leg muscles the harmstrings, digitourm brevis (foot muscle) and tibialis anterior (shin muscle) are involved in swimming activity. Finally, the abductor magnus(groin), rhomboid major and minor, latissimus dorsi (back muscle) and external oblique.

    Read More

  • Persuasive Essay On Swim Team

    586 Words  | 2 Pages

    If you enjoy racing but not pressure, there are B meets which are just for fun but you still earn ribbons. More competitive swimmers can swim at A meets, which count for points towards your team’s end of the year total. At the end of the season, there are all-stars for those who are more competitive, where the fastest swimmers in the Northern Virginia Swimming League compete. For those who do not even want to compete, practices are still a fun way to participate in the sport of swimming. Also, practices are completely optional and being an astounding swimmer is not necessary to

    Read More

  • Vo2max Performance In Football

    1183 Words  | 3 Pages

    The importance of high maximal aerobic power (VO2max) in modern soccer is heavily debated. Reported test results have varied widely with VO2max values between 50 and 75 mL. kg-1 .min -1 among outfield athletes (Stølen et. al., 2005). Some investigations indicate that lower ranked teams have lower VO2max compared to the best teams (Apor, 1988; Wisløff et al., 1998). Reilly et al. (2004) claim that VO2 max is not a sensitive measure of performance capability in soccer and suggest that VO2 max > 60 ml represents a threshold to possess the physiological attributes for success in male elite soccer.

    Read More

  • How Has Swimming Changed Over The Years

    374 Words  | 1 Pages

    Competitive swimming has changed over the years but not super drastically because all in all it's still a competition. Competitive swimming was first introduced in the early 1800s in Britain by the National Swimming Society. The National Swimming Society used indoor man made pools to compete in. These events began to become popular leading to the start of the Amateur Swimming Association in 1880. Swimming was first included in the Olympic Games in 1896. There were four swimming events held, now there are about 16 events held current day. Olympic swimsuits have also changed a lot over the years. The standard male swimmers uniform at the start was a full body suit. That and other non revealing pieces stuck up through the 1940s. They soon ditched

    Read More

  • Why Do Professional Athletes Use Paid?

    825 Words  | 2 Pages

    The World Anti-Doping Agency code declares it to be an illegal drug if it is performance enhancing, a health risk, or if it violates the “spirit of sport”(WADA, 2009). Teams like the US postal team, place a ‘code of silence’ pressured athletes to use PED’s as well as groomed them to evade detection from the authorities so they can gain an unfair advantage (Tygart 2012). In the past 16 years of the Tour De France there have been 12 years that the overall winners have been linked with and found guilty of taking Performance Enhancing Drugs (McLean, Tse, Wannanen 2013). Considering the state of the doping culture in cycling throughout the last 20 years alone, its no wonder athletes like Lance Armstrong, Floyd Landers, Alberto Contador...

    Read More

  • Should Performance Enhancing Drugs Be Legalized In Professional Sports?

    1288 Words  | 3 Pages

    Among the many different types of performance enhancing drugs out there; the common ones consist of: steroids, red blood cell doping, and human growth hormone. Lance Armstrong was convicted of red blood cell doping and has been stripped of his titles and banned from professional cycling. With the numerous amount of athletes convicted of PED abuse, one can question rather if it is a problem with the athletes or it is a problem with the state.

    Read More

  • Aerobic and Anaerobic Exercise

    513 Words  | 2 Pages

    Aerobic exercise involves improving the cardiovascular system. It increases the efficiency with which the body is able to utilize oxygen (Dintiman, Stone, Pennington, & Davis, 1984). In other words, aerobic exercise means that continuous and large amounts of oxygen are needed to get in order to generate the amount of energy needed to complete the workout. The most common type of aerobic exercise is long-distance running, or jogging. While running, the body requires large amounts of energy in order for the body to sustain energy. “During prolonged exercise, most of the energy is aerobic, derived from the oxidation of carbohydrates and fats” (Getchell, 1976).

    Read More

  • Compare and Contrast Qualitative and Quantitative Research Methodologies

    2046 Words  | 5 Pages

    Impellizzeri, et al. (2006). Physiological and performance effects of generic versus specific aerobic training in soccer players. International Journal of Sports Medicine, 27(6), 483-492.

    Read More

  • Cheating in Sports

    1409 Words  | 3 Pages

    Drug use in sports is considered cheating. Doping has many historical backgrounds, but now it is on a larger scale in order to maximiz...

    Read More

  • Lance Armstrong Doping

    140 Words  | 1 Pages

    Lance Armstrong is one of the best examples if we are talking about doping masters, he won seven Tours of France and in none of them he was caught. The reason why he was never caught is that he was ahead of the system and he knew that blood doping is simply about being clever and about timing. In one of his declarations he stated “Winning The Tour de France without doping is impossible”, which clearly confirms that the other competitors surely were doping too. Before Armstrong declared all he did he had lots of fans who looked up to him, but after he confirmed all of his actions people felt hate for him, they felt betrayed by their biggest inspiration. This shows how doping is also affecting the public which is a very important part of the

    Read More

  • Swimming

    772 Words  | 2 Pages

    The sun sleeps as the desolate city streets await the morning rush hour. Driven by an inexplicable compulsion, I enter the building along with ten other swimmers, inching my way toward the cold, dark locker room of the Esplanada Park Pool. One by one, we slip into our still-damp drag suits and make a mad dash through the chill of the morning air, stopping only to grab pull-buoys and kickboards on our way to the pool. Nighttime temperatures in coastal California dip into the high forties, but our pool is artificially warmed to seventy-nine degrees; the temperature differential propels an eerie column of steam up from the water's surface, producing the spooky ambience of a werewolf movie. Next comes the shock. Headfirst immersion into the tepid water sends our hearts racing, and we respond with a quick set of warm-up laps. As we finish, our coach emerges from the fog. He offers no friendly accolades, just a rigid regimen of sets, intervals, and exhortations.

    Read More

  • Doping, Athletes and Sports

    905 Words  | 2 Pages

    Turning sports into a way of life instead of a leisure activity has generated fierce competition for athletes to be the best at what they do. Having a "natural ability" no longer is enough. One must work long and hard hours to gain an edge on the competition. However, these days, even good training cannot guarantee a victory. For athletes and coaches the drive to be at the top is so great that they look for shortcuts to their end goal: winning. The one who wins is always the one who is remembered in the end; finishing second is worse than finishing last. When this type of attitude becomes predominant, it is not so surprising that they try any and all methods of cheating the system. In this way, doping has become a common practice for athletes to gain advantage on their competition. Is this a practice that we as the general public should accept, or is there something we can do to change the status quo?

    Read More

  • Doping In Sports Essay

    1475 Words  | 3 Pages

    Doping rids the true athletes of what they truly deserve and is wrong; because why should those who put in a hundred per cent of their effort, be outshone by individuals who are choosing to use substances to enhance their physical and mental abilities? Doping damages the sports industry as a whole because it has a serious physical and mental effects on the athletes, as well as damaging the idea of sportsmanship and it also breaks the trust of the fans, as they realise their idols are hypocrites. Doping in sports dates back to the ancient Greek times (need ref here). There are anti-doping agencies worldwide in virtually every country. In Switzerland its anti-doping Switzerland, in Nigeria it’s the Nigerian national anti-doping committee and in the UK its UK anti-doping.

    Read More

  • Evolution Of Swimming Essay

    1913 Words  | 4 Pages

    Any form of competitive swimming did not appear until the 1800s in Europe when schools accepted swimming as a natural part of life education. In the 18th and 19th century it became a competitive sport than being just a life saving skill. Swimming teams and clubs started to evolve all over the world. Although England was the first country to have an inside pool they aren’t one of the first countries of all times , China, Germany and Sweden were the first countries in swimming history. England and also invented the side stroke and after this one the freestyle evolved. Although there aren’t swimming competitions of side stroke it’s also known as a global stroke. In this essay I’m going to explain the changes of swimming for example the technology in swimming pools, the changes in bodies of the people that swam and more.

    Read More

More about Swimming and Cycling

Open Document