A new device for estimating active drag in swimming at maximal velocity

Abstract

A new device was designed to measure the active drag during maximal velocity swimming based on the assumption of equal useful power output in two cases: with and without a small additional drag. A gliding block was used to provide an adjustable drag, which was attached to the swimmer and measured by a force transducer. Six swimmers of national standard (3 males, 3 females) participated in the test. For the males, the mean active drag ranged from 48.57 to 105.88 N in the front crawl and from 54.14 to 76.37 N in the breaststroke. For the females, the mean active drag ranged from 36.31 to 50.27 N in the front crawl and from 36.25 to 77.01 N in the breaststroke. During testing, the swimmer's natural stroke and kick were not disturbed. We conclude that the device provides a useful method for measuring and studying active drag.

Keywords:

• Device
• active drag
• swimming
• additional drag

Acknowledgements

This research was supported by the General Administration of Sport, P.R. China. The authors gratefully acknowledge the cooperation of the Natatorium of Tsinghua University. In addition, the authors wish to thank those professional athletes from Beijing Sport University.