Abstract

We examined the association between changes in swimming velocity, vertical center of mass (CoM) position, and projected frontal area (PFA) during maximal 200-m front crawl. Three well-trained male swimmers performed a single maximal 200-m front crawl in an indoor 25-m pool. Three-dimensional (3D) shape data of the whole body were fitted to 3D motion data during swimming by using inverse kinematics computation to estimate PFA accurately. Swimming velocity decreased, the vertical CoM position was lowered, and PFA increased with swimming distance. There were significant correlations between swimming velocity and vertical CoM position (|r| = 0.797–0.982) and between swimming velocity and PFA (|r| = 0.716–0.884) for each swimmer. These results suggest that descent of the swimmer’s body and increasing PFA with swimming distance are associated with decreasing swimming velocity, although the causal factor remains unclear.

Highlights

  • Water drag has a major influence on swimming performance, because the density of water is much greater than that of air [1]

  • Our main findings were that (1) vertical center of mass (CoM) position decreased and projected frontal area (PFA) increased with swimming distance; and (2) swimming velocity was significantly correlated with vertical CoM

  • The decrease in vertical CoM position and increase in PFA in the latter part of the 200-m swim may have been due to the decrease in swimming velocity

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Summary

Introduction

Water drag has a major influence on swimming performance (i.e., swimming velocity), because the density of water is much greater than that of air [1]. Body position (i.e., the vertical position in relation to the water surface) should be correlated with water drag during swimming, because body position is partly reflected in PFA. The question arises as to whether changes in body position and PFA, which are related to water drag, affect swimming velocity during maximal 200-m front crawl. To answer this question, swimming velocity, body position, and PFA need to be evaluated during the course of maximal 200-m front crawl. Our purpose here was to use the underwater motion-capture system and digital human technology to examine the associations between swimming velocity, vertical CoM position, and PFA during maximal 200-m front crawl

Participants
Experimental Design
Underwater Motion-Capture System
Body Shape Measurement
Individual Models
Swimming Velocity and Vertical CoM Position
Swimming Kinematics Data
Results
Discussion
Full Text
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