In swimming, understanding the forces acting on a swimmer is crucial for optimizing performance. This involves managing drag, leveraging resistance, and maximizing propulsion.
This was from episode 389 with Dr. Roald Van der Vliet & Sander Schreven from the Inno Sports Lab in Eindhoven.
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Drag in Swimming
Drag is the resistance a swimmer encounters while moving through water. It can be classified into three main types:
Friction Drag:
Cause: This occurs due to the friction between the swimmer's body and the water.
Impact: Since water is 800 times denser than air, friction drag is significant. A swimmer's suit can influence this type of drag, highlighting the importance of streamlined swimwear.
Form Drag:
Cause: This arises from the shape and size of the swimmer's body as it displaces water, creating a pressure difference.
Mechanism: As the swimmer moves, a high-pressure area forms in front, and a low-pressure area forms behind. Water rushing to fill the void left behind creates a backward suction effect, pulling the swimmer back.
Explanation: Imagine swimming through water; your body displaces the water, leaving a "hole" that water wants to fill, creating a force that opposes forward movement.
Wave Drag:
Cause: This occurs at the interface between water and air, producing waves.
Impact: Wave drag is significant at high speeds, especially near the water's surface. To minimize it, swimmers often swim underwater off starts and turns, aiming to go beyond three times their body diameter to reduce wave resistance.
Measuring Drag
Drag measurement in swimming lacks a gold standard but employs several methods, such as the Measuring Active Drag (MAD) system. This involves a swimmer pushing off pads attached to a rod in the water. A force transducer at the rod's end measures the force exerted, correlating it to drag. The data helps understand how drag varies with swimming speed, illustrating the relationship between speed, drag force, and energy expenditure.
Propulsion in Swimming
Propulsion is the force that moves a swimmer forward, counteracting drag. It involves the swimmer's movements, primarily the arms and legs, to push against the water.
Positive Drag:
Mechanism: Swimmers generate propulsion by pushing water backward, using the resistance to move forward.
Technique: Efficient propulsion requires optimal hand and arm positioning to maximize water displacement backward.
Negative Drag:
Mechanism: Inefficient movements where water is pushed sideways or forward, increasing resistance without contributing to forward movement.
Minimization: Swimmers aim to refine their technique to reduce negative drag, focusing on streamlined body positions and effective strokes.
Balancing Drag and Propulsion
The key to swimming efficiency lies in balancing drag and propulsion. Increasing power can enhance speed but may also increase drag if not managed properly. Swimmers must aim for an optimal power-to-drag ratio, ensuring that muscle strength translates to effective propulsion without disproportionately increasing drag.