An underwater coup

Though there was a political upheaval over the weekend - which may, as a minimal effect, postpone certain sports events for public safety - a coup of another kind has been taking place in the world of swimming, and it involves the world’s best swimmer. It also answers the question of how the best get better.

The quest for speed is not limited to land or air. In the water, Australian Ian Thorpe used a revolutionary full bodysuit designed by adidas to win three gold medals in the Sydney Olympics. That suit turned a lot of heads, more so because previous attempts to simulate sharkskin or use other suits to aid swimmers in lowering their times have been denied by the sport’s higher authorities.

"If anything can help reduce my time by even one one-hundredth of a second, that could be the difference betwen a gold and silver medal," said world record-holder Thorpe, nicknamed "Thorpedo."

There are three sources of drag in swimming: friction drag, form drag and wave drag. These are the forms of resistance which slow the swimmer down.

Form drag is the resistance of the water to the shape of the swimmer, so there isn’t really much a swimmer can do to minimize it. They’ve already shave their heads and bodies to cut down the friction with water, but friction drag still accounts for 56% of total resistance. Wave drag is the movement of the water as a body plows through it, another 36% of total friction. Lastly, friction drag is the athlete’s cutting through the water itself. This makes for another 8%. This is the area that adidas has decided to concentrate on.

In particular, there is a "drag pocket" along the back of a swimmer as he strokes through the water, and is one of the greatest sources of friction drag, equivalent to 70 kilograms of weight. The scientists of adidas decided to look to commercial air- and seacraft as their source of inspiration. Planes and yachts have small "riblets" that channel air and water, and improve fuel economy. This same idea propelled scientists to study its use for swimmers, and they created the "Jetconcept" bodysuit. The last three years since Sydney have been a blur of activity, so much so that Thorpe himself has had to appeal to be allowed to use the suit in trials in Sydney, since there is often a thin line between technology that aids an athlete and equipment that gives him an unfair advantage.

"I felt lighter and smoother," was Thorpe’s initial review of the Jetconcept suit. "And I felt there wasn’t as much water on my back."

Kinesiologists studied the impact of the suit on elite swimmers in Finland, videotaping their progress underwater. Thorpe himself was put in a wind tunnel to study his body’s form through water. It took over a year to get the riblet technology form and placement right. First of all, the riblets were placed from the back of the swimmer’s underarm down to the gluteus maximus, reducing drag. How the material was attached to the suit was also a point for researchers. Different styles of molding and injection were used, until finally the technology of mold injecting silicon onto the Lycra suit satisfied the scientists. The overall reduction in drag and turbulence: 3 %, a monumental achievement, considering hundredths of a second determine victory or defeat.

The only drawback to the suit is that it is tight, because the compression factor helps improve swimmer response time through increased circulation and skin sensitivity. A Jetconcept suit for an adult like Thorpe looks like a child’s.

"It takes about twenty minutes to get on," Thorpe explains. "But the benefits outweigh that little exertion before a competition."

Why go through all the trouble for what seems - to the layman, at least - a miniscule gain? Well, for the elite swimmer who is so evenly matched against competition, any advantage gained, any improvement in his performance, spells the difference between being the best and a runner-up. Thorpe himself has been involved in the development of the adidas Jetconcept suit, a sign of how dedicated he is to get even better. The full fruits will be felt at the World Championships and the Olympics in Athens next year.

A true coup, under water.

This Saturday’s episode of The Basketball Show will be aired one hour early, at 3 p.m. over IBC-13, to give way to the PBA’s Mabuhay Cup. The Basketball Show is sponsored by Selecta Moo, adidas, Columbia International Foods, Red Horse Extra Strong Beer, and Accel sports gear.

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