I have been studying videos of swimmers and find what was once called the "S" stroke has almost disappeard.
I have noticed that flyers use it. But crawl swimmers have modified it so much that it is almost gone.
Has it been replaced completely or was it an optical illusion? Did underwater film show us it did not exist.
The US Navy and there new torpedos that will move through water at the speed of sound.
There are absolutely no such things as torpedoes that move through the water at the speed of sound. The speed of sound in air is ~770 miles per hour (or 344 m/s) (depending upon relative humidity and temperature) and significantly faster in water. Russia developed a supercavitation torpedo in the 70s that reached speeds of approximately 300 knots (or ~340 mph). That's only about one tenth the speed of sound in seawater. The picture in geochuck's post is of this Russian "Shkval Rocket Torpedo" and there are several websites that dispell the myth that these weapons approach the speed of sound.
This discussion is very fun for someone of my limited intellectual capacity, but limitless affection for physics and mathematics (read, I am a geek, just ask my wife)!
Any discussion of peak athletic performance in water has to involve both human kinematics and hydrodynamics. The hydrodynamics portion of the equation is far too complex to solve by hand and must be estimated by computational fluid dynamics (CFD).
So, a fluid mechanics person could probably develop a model of the ideal swimmer, but it's another matter entirely to assume that each swimmer can manipulate and/or coordinate their body to fit the model. The bottom line is that the swimmer must minimize drag along his/her body, but maximize drag on the pulling surfaces (forearms and hands).
I've only been swimming for about a year now, so I won't claim to be anywhere near an expert about stroke mechanics, so I won't begin to claim I know how to maximize drag on my hands and forearms while minimizing the drag along my body. I do know that each time my coach makes a change in my stroke, I can feel the difference!
I don't know if I contributed anything to the post, but I certainly do like to hear myself talk:)!
The US Navy and there new torpedos that will move through water at the speed of sound.
There are absolutely no such things as torpedoes that move through the water at the speed of sound. The speed of sound in air is ~770 miles per hour (or 344 m/s) (depending upon relative humidity and temperature) and significantly faster in water. Russia developed a supercavitation torpedo in the 70s that reached speeds of approximately 300 knots (or ~340 mph). That's only about one tenth the speed of sound in seawater. The picture in geochuck's post is of this Russian "Shkval Rocket Torpedo" and there are several websites that dispell the myth that these weapons approach the speed of sound.
This discussion is very fun for someone of my limited intellectual capacity, but limitless affection for physics and mathematics (read, I am a geek, just ask my wife)!
Any discussion of peak athletic performance in water has to involve both human kinematics and hydrodynamics. The hydrodynamics portion of the equation is far too complex to solve by hand and must be estimated by computational fluid dynamics (CFD).
So, a fluid mechanics person could probably develop a model of the ideal swimmer, but it's another matter entirely to assume that each swimmer can manipulate and/or coordinate their body to fit the model. The bottom line is that the swimmer must minimize drag along his/her body, but maximize drag on the pulling surfaces (forearms and hands).
I've only been swimming for about a year now, so I won't claim to be anywhere near an expert about stroke mechanics, so I won't begin to claim I know how to maximize drag on my hands and forearms while minimizing the drag along my body. I do know that each time my coach makes a change in my stroke, I can feel the difference!
I don't know if I contributed anything to the post, but I certainly do like to hear myself talk:)!
