Problem Based Learning Report
-Swimming
3I323 Zhang Jiyi
3I304 Chen Li
3A331 Jiang Hongxuan
1. What is the sport you are presenting? What is the Physics behind the
sport that forms the criteria for winning the event?
Rules and Regulations
The sport we are presenting is swimming (100m freestyle). Swimming is movement
through water, usually without artificial assistance. Swimming is an activity that can
be both useful and recreational. Its primary uses are bathing, cooling, fishing,
recreation, exercise, and sport.
The aquatic sport of swimming involves competition amongst participants to be the
fastest over a given distance under self propulsion. The different events include 50,
100, and 200 yards/meters in breaststroke, backstroke and butterfly, the '50', '100',
'200', '400', '800' and '1500' free, and the '100', '200', and '400' Individual Medley,
'IM', which consists of all strokes in equal proportion. Most are done by one swimmer,
but there are also relays of these, such as the '200 IM relay', also called the 4 by 50
IM. In this, swimmers typically only swim one stroke, such as a 50 of butterfly, while
other swimmers take the other strokes. Relays become too long past 400, so there
are few relays above that. Regulation swimming pools are either 25 or 50 meters or
yards across, from one side to the other is known as a lap, so a coach may say four
laps in place of 100 yards/meters. Typical public pools, school pools, and regulation
private pools tend to be 25 meters/yards long to save space.
Physics behind the sport
Usually，swimmers are asked to finish a certain distance race. The person who
reaches the destination in the shortest time is the winner. The rule varies in different
kinds of races.
The rules of swimming involve the kinematic knowledge. The speed of a swimmer is
V. The distance of the race is S. The time a swimmer finishes the race is t. Obviously,
v=s/t. When the displacement is a certain number, the less time the swimmer uses,
the faster it moves.
Energy consumption and conversion
During the swimming process, there are energy consumption and conversion.
The chemical energy of human will be converted into the kinetic energy for people to
swim forward and maintain buoyancy. In this part, the energy is 100% converted.
However, part of kinetic energy will be consumed to overcome the friction between
human body and water. So swimming fast is a matter of increasing propulsion while
reducing the resistance of water to forward movement.
Elite swimmers can swim a particular stroke at a given velocity with lower oxygen
uptake than relatively untrained or recreational swimmers." That is, skilled swimmers
use more of the energy produced per stroke to overcome drag forces. And secondly,
they cover a greater distance per stroke than untrained, who use energy to move
water (McArdle, Katch and Katch 1996).
2. What kind of human physique that is needed to enhance the
performance of the sport (Physics of the human body, which parts of the
body, is stressed and when trained properly will enhance
performance?)?
First, here is a description of Michael Phelps: “with broad shoulders and a huge torso
tapering down to small hips and strikingly short legs -- a combination that provides
minimum resistance beneath the waterline. Unlike most people, he also has an
extraordinarily long arm reach, with his arm span some 3 inches (7.6 cm) longer than
his 6 ft 4 inch height. This effectively means he has extra longer "oars" to propel a
shorter body through the water.”
Generally, a swimmer’s build tends to include a few different features. First and
foremost is the idea of a "cut" or "ripped" body. This means that the muscle tone is
visible over the entire body. Abdominal muscles are visible, triceps and biceps are
clearly visible, and the calves are usually extremely prominent. At the same time, the
muscle mass built up on a swimmer's build is not particularly large. Unlike
body-builders, football players, or many other athletes, those with a swimmer's build
have fairly svelte bodies.
Actual swimmers may have a small layer of fat that their body keeps to protect them
from the cold of swimming in water below their core temperature consistently. In
general, however, this is not considered a part of the swimmer's build as used in
everyday conversation.
For men, the swimmer's body type has broad shoulders, a medium to long torso and
a flat as a board abdomen. What sets apart the swimmers body from other athletic
types is the noticeable leanness of their physique and broadness of their shoulders.
There long bodies combined with great posture makes for a regal effect. Ironically
enough, a swimmers body type for women is a bit different. They too have well
defined muscles, but because it shows mostly in their shoulders, triceps and biceps it can come across as a little too broad or bulky. But trust there is nothing bulky
about the female swimmers body - like most women athletes, the training of a
swimmer leads to muscle development that the average woman never experiences.
For freestyle: Broad shoulders, strong overall body, and tight kick, basically the all
around good shape person, who is usually tall.
3. What training and diet enhancement you would recommend to
improve performance?
Diet
A diet for those engaged in very active sports activity is one which involves eating for
energy and for prevention of injuries which are often due to nutritional deficiencies.
This translates into a diet of approximately 65% complex carbohydrates, 10 to 15%
fat (preferably of vegetable origin), and 10% protein.
So I recommend a diet of
65% COMPLEX CARBOHYDRATES - vegetables, fruits, and grains either raw, cooked
at low heat, or in the case of grains with a high whole grain content
10 to 15% FAT - preferably of vegetable origin, though even if you stick to low fat
sources of protein you will still get some fat
10% PROTEIN - in meats stick to fish or fowl or lamb. Tofu is a good source of protein.
A good quality protein powder with a P.E.R. of at least 2.7 will provide a good balance
of all the amino acids, and if properly designed from multiple sources (a pure soy
protein is difficult to digest and poorly assimilated) should require little energy for
digestion.
MULTI-VITAMIN + MINERALS
Oxygen enhancing nutrients - a formula containing Potassium, Magnesium, Alpha
Ketogluturate, Inosine, Malic Acid, Ferulic Acid, Trimethylglycine, and Coenzyme Q10.
taken sublingually 30 minutes before competition.
VITAMIN E - 800 I.U.
Selenium - 100 to 300 mcg
B-COMPLEX - 2 to 3 tablets 1/2 to three hours before exercise.
VITAMIN C WITH BIOFLAVONOIDS - 2,000 to 4,000 mg. of vitamin C in a formula rich
in bioflavonoids.
CALCIUM/MAGNESIUM - 600 mg. of calcium and 400 mg.
ZINC WITH VITAMIN A - 30 mg. per day taken in the morning. Do not take at the
same time as calcium/magnesium as they will tend to neutralize each other.
OMEGA 3 FISH OIL CAPSULES - 2 per day.
Training
1. Deep breathing -------------------------It can help swimmers to extend the vital
capacity. So they can take less time on breathing and save time.
2. Sit and up-----------------------This can improve the psoas of swimmers. It is useful
since swimming is a whole-body activity.
3. Pull-up----------------------It is used to improve swimmer’s arm muscle, so they can
be high efficient and swim much faster.
4. Long-distance running----This can improve the endurance. Swimmers will be not
easy to feel tired when swimming for a long distance.
5. Short-distance running---It can improve the ability of sprinting. Since 100-meter
freestyle is a short distance race. Ability of sprinting is an important factor to win
the race.
4. What other physical aids (eg. Racing suit) can aid the athletes overall
performance in the sport?
A well-designed swimsuit
The use of wet suits has been introduced and showed to decrease the body drag by
14%. It has been proved that a well-designed swimsuit can help a lot to aid the
athletes. One of the most famous examples is the invention of shark skin swimsuit.
Researchers discovered that the surface of shark skin is covered in tiny 'teeth' or
dermal denticles. The shape and positioning of these denticles varies across the
shark's body, managing the flow of water in the most efficient way.
Each species has denticles of a different shape and you can feel them if you stroke a
shark's body from back to front - but if you move your hand front to back, the skin
feels smooth.
The denticles also work in the area between the skin and the water, reducing drag
and allowing the shark to 'slide' through the sea.
(From:
http://www.nhm.ac.uk/about-us/news/2008/august/olympic-swimsuit-mimics-shark
-skin18219.html )
As our body creates friction when we move through the water, the aim of swimsuits
is to decrease the friction and let people glide through water as efficiently as
possible.
The feel and shape of a shark's skin varies across its body, enabling it to manage the
flow of water and move with maximum efficiency. The new suit works on the same
principle. It is made up of several different materials, designed to create a
free-flowing, friction-free swimmer.
Friction varies across the body (red = high, yellow = medium, blue = low)
With the help of shark skin swimsuit, breaking the world record becomes very easy.
In 13th world swimming championships in Roma in 2009, 11 world records were
broken in only 2 days! Around the world, there are more and more sound emerged
against the swimsuit. They think it is unfair to use high-technology to improve the
racing results. It is the same as stimulants. Some people even advocate naked
swimming race.
6. Estimation of the total cost of the training program.
Daily Food according to diet: $50 per day
Training Program: $35 per day
Training equipment: $5 per day
Swimsuit: &1400 per suit. Each suit can be used in real competition for 6 times.
Total amount of cost per day: $90 + one competition swimsuit $1400
References:
http://physiotherapy.curtin.edu.au/resources/educational-resources/exphys/98/swi
mming.cfm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sportacademy/hi/sa/swimming/features/newsid_3520000/3
520472.stm
http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/general/controversial-shark-swimsuit-made-a
vailable-723292.html
http://www.allbusiness.com/sports-recreation/athletes/10199536-1.html