Steve Czaban, a nationally-syndicated sports radio
personality, claims that it is impossible to classify Olympic swimming god
Michael Phelps in the same category as Tiger Woods when it comes to the caliber
of champion because the physics behind swimming is so "less sophisticated" than
golf.
Someone should have told that to Rensselaer Polytechnic
Institute (RPI) fluid mechanics professor Timothy Wei. Professor Wei has been working with USA
Swimming for the last five years, analyzing water flow around swimmers. In
short, Wei's work has been revolutionary. According to the Albany Times-Union,
USA Swimming Coach Sean Hutchison said the project "gave me the foundation
for which every technical stroke change in preparation for the Beijing Olympics
was based."
Wei's work involved modifying and combining force
measurement tools originally developed for aerospace with digital particle image
velocimetry, a video-based flow measurement based technique. It gives US swimmers real-time feedback while
they compete. Adjustments can be made between prelims, semis, and finals to
maximize the energy that they exert, and by pinpointing the path of water
around their bodies.
Digital particle image velocimetry allowed Hutchinson to analyze the techniques of his
swimmers, determine which was the best, and then modify the rest of his stable
to mimic the best technique - using hard data as a basis. Hard data is something that has been lacking
in science of swimming. He credits Wei's
work with Margaret Hoelzer's world record in the 200-m backstroke in July.
Up next for Wei: 2010 Vancouver Olympic Gold for the US
Skeleton team.
Michael Phelps is already the most decorated Olympian in the
history of the modern games. Is it fathomable, or even scary, to believe that he could get that much
better though continual use and development of this technology? Or will the rest of the world,
especially France
(whose trash-talking relay team was humiliated into silence in the 4 x 100-m
Relay) jump on board with Wei's work and again try to bridge the gap by 2012?
Resources:
http://timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=711433&category=REGIONOTHER
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