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The US Swim Team's Secret Weapon, Science
Posted by
ScuttleMonkey
on Fri Aug 15, 2008 04:11 PM
from the but-not-chemistry dept.
from the but-not-chemistry dept.
Hugh Pickens writes "When American Swimmer Margaret Hoelzer goes for the gold tonight in the 200-meter backstroke, part of her success will be due to a new system developed by Tim Wei, a mechanical and aerospace engineer at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, that uses fluid dynamics to study human movement allowing scientists and coaches to study how fast and hard a swimmer pushes the water as he moves through it. 'Wei uses a tracking technique called digital particle image velocimetry, commonly used to measure the flow of small particles around an airplane or small fish or crustaceans in water.' Wei filtered compressed air in a scuba tank through a porous hose to create bubbles about a tenth of a millimeter in diameter. When an athlete swims through a sheet of bubbles that rises from the pool floor, a camera captures their flow around the swimmer's body and the images show the direction and speed of the bubbles, which Wei then translates into the swimmer's thrust using software that he wrote."
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Sexism (Score:5, Funny)
"When American Swimmer Margaret Hoelzer goes for the gold tonight in the 200-meter backstroke..."
"...to study how fast and hard a swimmer pushes the water as he moves through it."
I'm Margaret Hoelzer, you insensitive sexist swimsuit-designing clods!
Re:Sexism (Score:5, Funny)
Parent
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
As an RPI graduate, I can ASSURE you this researcher has never seen a woman before, either.
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
O well, this will get modded off topic and we can move on with our lives.
Swimmer gender issues (Score:5, Funny)
I dunno - if you've seen some of the female swimmers, then it's not hard to make that mistake.
Parent
Re:Problems with slashdot...is it just me? (Score:5, Funny)
No, it's not just you.
The original slashdot page layout and comment threading system was junk. It was obviously "designed" at 3:00 in the morning after a mushroom and hash party in Taco's dorm room. They would fix it, but nobody at slashdot understands how it works.
The recent v2.0 slashdot page layout and comment threading system is also junk. It was obviously "designed" at 3:00 in the afternoon after a martini and coke lunch at an expensive steak house. They would fix it, but nobody at slashdot understands that it sucks.
Parent
Re:Sexism (Score:5, Insightful)
For instance, note the following sentence: "I walked down the street, saw a boy and a bike, and he was walking quickly." In this example, the sentence attempts to reference the boy, but actually references the bike. The original statement is grammatically correct.
I'm an English teacher you insensitive clod!
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Re:Sexism (Score:5, Funny)
I'll ambiguously define your antecedent!
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Re:Sexism (Score:4, Funny)
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Re:Sexism (Score:4, Informative)
By examining the top bar of the frame. A top bar that is horizontal from steering stem to the top of the seat tube is the opposite sex from one where the top bar slants downward from steering stem to about half way up the seat tube.
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Re:Sexism (Score:4, Informative)
Because women used to wear skirts to do *everything* and you can't ride a *bicycle* side-saddle.
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Changing is easier said then done. (Score:5, Interesting)
After doing something for years and years, changing the way you do something, whether it's a swimming stroke or tennis or golf swing, isn't done instantly. It takes quite a bit of concerted effort and attention to change it. I'd be really interested in how and what the coach does to get the swimmers to change.
I've witnessed swimmers in college that have bad habits that they gained as youth and they can't seam to shake them.
Re:Changing is easier said then done. (Score:5, Interesting)
It is plausible that adaptability is one trait that helped the Olympic swimmers become Olympic swimmers in the first place. Certainly it would be interesting to hear more about it.
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Re:Changing is easier said then done. (Score:5, Interesting)
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Re:Changing is easier said then done. (Score:5, Insightful)
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Re:Changing is easier said then done. (Score:5, Interesting)
I've witnessed swimmers in college that have bad habits that they gained as youth and they can't seam to shake them.
About twenty years ago, famous golf swing coach Butch Harmon saw Tiger at a day camp for kids. At the end of the day he knew Tiger would be famous one day but not because of the way he hit the ball. It was because of the way he took direction and coaching advice. Butch said that over the years he had seen quite a few kids hit the ball better than Tiger, but none so eagerly seek advice and apply it on the field as Tiger did.
Parent
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Maybe they're just more adaptive (Score:5, Interesting)
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Interpretation? (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Interpretation? (Score:5, Informative)
I have much more power than any of the girls, well most of them, on the US Team, but in the water, they'll blow my doors off because of better technique - the ability to apply their power in the water. That's the best I can do. It's been a while since I read my swim coaching stuff.
Parent
It's not just technique (Score:5, Informative)
Re:It's not just technique (Score:4, Insightful)
Don't buy into journalists and others grasping at straws here. They couldn't find anything different about the pool, so they start reaching for things that would be obvious to anyone who watched swimming four years ago or has ever seen a swimming event. Extra lanes? Common. Wave-dissipating buoy lines? Common. Extra depth? Eh, not so much, but I know my school's pool is more than 2 meters in depth and it's considered OK.
I think what you're seeing is natural, both the sportsmen and women are better than ever, and the swimsuits are better than ever. Result: world records falling left and right.
I'd like to see the NBC and other groups congratulate Phelps rather than talk about fluff stories like how it's such a fast pool. If it's so fast, and it's not that Phelps is simply the fastest swimmer, then, well, all the other swimmers should be racing for first rather than second.
Parent
Re:It's not just technique (Score:4, Funny)
Increasing the viscosity would reduce turbulence...
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Re:It's not just technique (Score:5, Interesting)
Everyone has known about this for years and I'm not quite sure why it's suddenly news now. There are plenty of pools out there that have 10+ lanes (in college we had 10+ lanes and we swam in the deep end of the pool for SCY races). It really seems like most of the discussions about the reasons for the WRs falling are more or less just to fill the time that the announcers have between events.
I realize that the general public doesn't understand how pools, suits, and training methods have evolved over the last 15 years but it's seriously not news worthy IMO. US Swimming is just trying to get people to pay attention to how cool swimming is so that they get the most out of the "Olympic Cycle". The "Olympic Cycle" is the phenomenon that occurs following every Olympic year where swim teams see a upswing in the number of youngsters trying out for swim teams because of all the coverage ("ohh, Mommy, I want to be Michael Phelps/Natalie Coughlin/Hall Jr/Krazelburg/Dolan/etc too!")
Another flash in the pan caused by mass media dumbing everything down to a mostly unaware public. Move along.
Parent
Related research on the dolphin kick Phelps uses (Score:3, Informative)
In this Washington Post article [washingtonpost.com]
Re:Related research on the dolphin kick Phelps use (Score:5, Interesting)
In 25 yard pools during backstroke it was easier to dolphin kick and swim 8 yards with the last 2 dedicated to the turn.
As for swimming underwater: Most sprinters in the 50m freestyle don't take a breath during the race. In short course (25m pool) 50m races I maybe took one breath on the way back - depends how much air I released during my turn. If I swam at the right speed I could get about 75m before needing to come up and take another breath. But this was far from racing speed.
Parent
Hmm... I have a correction to the title (Score:5, Funny)
Though that's not very secret. Sort of like Victoria's.
Re:Hmm... I have a correction to the title (Score:5, Funny)
It's event pollution. See: http://www.realmansolympics.com/ [realmansolympics.com]
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Re:Hmm... I have a correction to the title (Score:5, Insightful)
Parent
Re:Hmm... I have a correction to the title (Score:4, Insightful)
Parent
Ha!! (Score:3, Funny)
Screw science. Their weapon is Intelligent Design!
It's not just American athletes that are faster (Score:5, Interesting)
Everyone is faster in the pool. I watched a race where even the 5th place finisher came in above the old world record time.
Just read this: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/12/sports/olympics/12records.html?_r=1&oref=slogin [nytimes.com]
Over above whatever the swimmers are using, the pool itself is engineered to create faster times. Everything from the lane dividers, to the wall of the pool, to the extra meter of depth are meant to dissipate turbulence in the water and increase times.
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
i'm starting to hear reports, admittedly unconfirmed, that several in the USA team have been found consuming DHMO [dhmo.org] prior to competing - this substance is well known for temporarily improving athletic performance, though admittedly is difficult to detect using the current dope-tests.
i wouldn't be surprised if this scandal hits the papers over the next few days.
There's nothing that special about the pool (Score:5, Insightful)
It is engineered to reduce turbulence but no more than other top-level pools around the world. Pools with 10 lanes, slop gutters to eat waves, and greater then 2m depth are not unheard of. Besides, while plenty of world records are being beaten at these Olympics, plenty were also beaten before the Olympics...in the last year or two many world records have gone down at other events. Before each race NBC puts up a listing of the current world record for that event. Take a look--many are dated 2006 or 2007; some date back a few more years, but none are very old.
We happen to be in a period of dramatic change in swimming right now, and there are probably a number of reasons. If you want to point to just one, it is probably that there is a lot more money in the sport now. So Michael Phelps could afford, through endorsements and grants, to train at a full-time professional level since he was an early teen. This has huge implications for his technique, fitness, health, and mental toughness for competition.
Parent
Chinese Quality control (Score:5, Funny)
Everyone is faster in the pool.
Yes, they probably didn't level it right and they are all getting a downhill advantage.
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Re:Chinese Quality control (Score:4, Interesting)
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Re:It's not just American athletes that are faster (Score:4, Interesting)
Perhaps more to the point, it's not just US that uses science.
(And yes, I speak from experience. I can't tell you exactly what I do for a living, but let's just say that next Olympics, Australia's rowers are going to have a distinct advantage.)
Parent
China is using science too (Score:4, Interesting)
I went to China for a visit this summer and there was this interesting Chinese Olympic history series playing on the TV.
Apparently after the Atlanta Olympics in 1996, the Chinese considered it to be a disappointing showing because many Chinese favorites did not get a Gold medal. So the Chinese government got some experts together and they came up with a new plan for how the athletes are trained in China. They first listed several sports the Chinese were good at traditionally, like table tennis, badminton, gymnastics, etc. They then established two research facilities for each sport. The purpose of these research facilities were to find more effective methods to train an athlete.
For example, the rowing team was sent to go train in Tibet because there it is at a high altitude. At high altitudes there is less oxygen so it trains the athletes' body to use oxygen more effectively.
While us nerds can't exactly participate in sports competitively we definitely have the skills to improve training and playing methods of a sport =D
Re:China is using science too (Score:5, Informative)
For example, the rowing team was sent to go train in Tibet because there it is at a high altitude. At high altitudes there is less oxygen so it trains the athletes' body to use oxygen more effectively.
Yet another item that's been known forever. That's nothing more than fluff. US Swimming's Olympic Training Center for swimming is located isn't located in Colorado Springs because it's an exciting town you know. I swam there for a few days before HS Nationals in 1997 before the meet which took place at the Air Force Academy. They were trying to get us prepped for swimming at altitude because, as the words placed in tiles on the wall said something like, "7,258 feet -- the air is rare"
I learned many of the underwater techniques used by the current greats which were developed while I was at the peak of my performance in HS. It wasn't Michael Phelps or this new scientist suddenly creating the underwater dolphin work you see now. In the mid 1990s (into the late 1990s when it was limited to 15m) you could go as far as you wanted underwater for every event (backstroke fell first to 15m and then the rest soon followed). Misty Hyman was one of the pioneers along with Denis Pankratov and they turned on their sides (much like Coughlin still does) to take the best advantage of the swirls of water that are created as you move through it.
As I posted above, this is all not new technology and it's not worth even talking about now 10-15 years after it was developed.
Parent
science? (Score:5, Funny)
I thought our *three* weapons were fear, surprise, and ruthless efficiency...and an almost fanatical devotion to the Pope.... Our *four*...no... *Amongst* our weapons.... Amongst our weaponry...are such elements as fear, surprise.... I'll post again.
Let me get this right... (Score:3, Insightful)
By doping, which is "bad", the athlete is increasing his ability to overcome the environment.
By using technology we're mitigating the effects of the environment on their performance. That's good?
The spirit of the Olympics is long gone.
Is this for sale? (Score:4, Interesting)
Cause we're in the market [beijing2008.cn] right now.
Faster lap times due to ... (Score:5, Funny)
...being chased. By sharks. With lasers.
The high diving competitions are the result of releasing the shark and playing the video of the swimmer leaping out of the pool backwards.
this story brought to by the letter S (Score:4, Funny)
It works, bitches.
Re:The secret science is wrong (Score:4, Funny)
According to the BBC, Phelps's armoury of secret weapons includes ... Hot Grits! (no, really):
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/7562840.stm [bbc.co.uk]
Oh, and eggs. Lots of eggs. But don't try this at home:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2008/aug/15/foodanddrink.michaelphelps [guardian.co.uk]
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Re:The secret science is wrong (Score:5, Interesting)
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Re:The secret science is wrong (Score:5, Funny)
And his body. He's like a dolphin. His proportions are perfect for swimming. And then he's double jointed in his ankles, elbows, shoulders AND chest. His armspan is 10cm greater than his height. All he needs now are gills.
Dolphins have gills?
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Re: (Score:3, Funny)
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
I struggled with the Google translation of that article, here [timesonline.co.uk] is an article on the same guy that covers the same ground for English speakers.
Re:Olympic research (Score:4, Funny)
I think you mean lasers.
Parent