The study of physics and fluid dynamics in swimming has been a field of increasing interest for study in the past few decades among swimming coaches and enthusiasts. Despite the long history of research, the understanding of how to move the human body effectively through the water is still in its infancy. Competitive swimmers and their coaches of all levels are constantly striving for ways to improve their stroke technique and overall performance. The research and performances of today's swimmers are continuously disproving the beliefs of the past. Like in all sports, a better understanding of physics is enabling the world class swimmers to accomplish times never before thought possible. This was displayed on the grandest of scales in the 2000 Olympics when Ian Thorpe, Inge De Bruijn, Pieter Van Den Hoogenband and a number of other swimmers broke a total of twelve world records and numerous Olympic and national records.
Several forces play significant roles in the movement of the human body through the water. The forces are drag, lift, gravity and buoyancy. Lift and drag are the main propulsive forces that are used by swimmers. Resistance, known as drag, can be broken into three main categories: frontal resistance, skin friction, and eddy resistance. The effect of buoyancy in swimming is best described by Archimedes’ principle: a body fully or partially submerged in a fluid is buoyed up by a force equal to the weight of the fluid that is displaced by the body.1 This effectively negates any effects that gravity might have on a swimmer. The rare exception to this is a swimmer with very little body fat, and this is overcome by keeping the lungs inflated to a certain degree at all times.
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...s, but through her intense regiment of endurance training she was recently able to win two Olympic gold medals. A select few swimmers go beyond momentum and energy and use power to its fullest and have no competition, like Ian Thorpe or the once great Alex Popov.
Works Cited
1 David Halliday, Robert Resnick, and Jearl Walker, Fundamentals of Physics, Extended, 5th ed. (NewYork:Wiley, 1997) 361
2 Cecil M. Colwin, Swimming Into the 21st Century, (Champaign: Human Kinetics, 1992) 20-32, 58-59
3 James E. Counsilman and Brian E. Counsilman, The New Science of Swimming, (Englewood Cliffs: Prentice Hall, 1994) 6-7
4 James E. Counsilman and Brian E. Counsilman, The New Science of Swimming, (Englewood Cliffs: Prentice Hall, 1994) 10-22
5 Robert E. Schleihauf, "A biomechanical analysis of freestyle." Swimming Technique, 1974, 11(3), 89-96
Morace, Robert A. "The Swimmer: Overview." Reference Guide to Short Fiction. Ed. Noelle Watson. Detroit: St. James Press, 1994.Literature Resource Center. Web. 30 Jan. 2014.
When performing in a triathlon, which consists of swimming, cycling, and running in a single continuous event, it is generally accepted throughout the exercise science community, that “over performing” during the cycling stage by increasing ones cadence or aerobic power, could hinder the running portion of the triathlon that follows (Hausswirth). In order to help triathletes in avoiding this potential problem, the researchers set the purpose of the experiment as follows:
...World of Sports Science. Ed. K. Lee Lerner and Brenda Wilmoth Lerner. Detroit: Gale, 2007. Science in Context. Web. 11 May 2014.
Imagery such as “Deliberately fracturing glass moving down through pools'; conveys the mental picture of the water being glass shattered with every stroke. Shattering glass suggesting danger and fear. “Barely missing the moon’s pale hiss,'; portrays the image of a deadly snake, heightening the risk of the challenge. The depiction of “white nudes between each sizzling shaft,'; brings to the reader the vulnerability the swimmer feels running from one danger to another. Also, the affect of a challenging computer game is again played. The swimmer is like a loosing player challenging each feat and then faced with yet another.
Skin resistance, wave resistance and turbulence resistance are three main types of resistance relating to humans and water. A layer of fluid is formed (boundary layer) on the skin which is in direct contact to the water, when the swimmer moves in one direction the Boundary layer interacts with the preceding layer of water gripping tightly. This creates a frictional force preventing forward movement without further propulsion, consequently called ‘Skin Resistance’. Wave resistance is a build up of fluid in front of the swimmer creating a high pressure zone, the faster the swimmer can travel the higher the pressure is in front of them. This pressure can be reduced by using appropriate streamline techniques causing less displacement of laminar flow. Turbulence resistance is the displacement of laminar flow, when swimming you create a high and low pressure zone causing a suction effect. Using efficient streamline techniques the water displacement is minimized and less eddie...
Cheever, John W. “The Swimmer.” Charters, Ann. Story and Its Writer. 8th ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2011. Print.
Swimmers tend to be tall and have a noticeable upper body muscle development. Having low body
Pendergast DR, Mollendorf JC, Termin AC. Application of theoretical principles to swimsuit drag reduction. Sports Eng 2006 [cited 2011 Aug 6]. 65-76. Available from: http://www.teamtermin.com/docs/SwimSuit_Drag_Reduction.pdf
If you are a competitive swimmer, it’s vital that you know swimming’s biomechanical and physiological principles. It will help you create effective techniques that can improve your speed and health. Biomechanical refers to the movement or muscular activity required for that activity while physiological refers to the body’s healthy or normal functioning while performing your activity To understand what is going on with your body while your swimming is
Physics: As the body assumes a streamline position and is forced off the wall, the sleeker the body, the less drag produced. If any of the characteristics listed above change, a greater drag-force is applied to the body, thus slowing the swimmer down.
One balmy summer morning my friends convinced me to come swim in Grapevine Lake, which would be very enticing if I was a strong swimmer or had any swimming experience whatsoever. However, I’m not going to ruin a good, scorching summer day staying home wasting my time playing video
Simply Swim. "Perfect Breaststroke - Swimming Advice From Simply Swim." YouTube. YouTube, 24 June 2011. Web. 15 Nov. 2013. .
...or the speed of this stroke. Swimmers can choose how many strokes they take before they need to breathe. Each breath is a movement outside of the streamline. Every movement of the body outside of the streamline body position of this stroke can slow the swimmer down.
In conclusion, swimming has a long history and is up and coming to the world. Swimming is a challenging sport that requires time and effort. With many events, the athletes have an array of events from that may suit their individual talents. The sport is still evolving so the world will continue to be amazed. While its more popular in Europe and Australia, swimmers like Michael Phelps, Missy Franklin, and Mark Spitz are helping to grow the sport in the USA by inspiring a new generation of kids may become an Olympian.
Rutemiller,B.T , 2012., USA swimming ends speedousas sponsorship agreement., [online] available at: [accessed at April 2014]