the-BA : Swim like a shark

Aussie superstar, Ian ‘Thorpedo’ Thorpe, captured three gold medals at the 2000 Sydney Olympics wearing a full body swimsuit. It’s supposed to reduce drag in the water and enable swimmers to travel further after turns. The manufacturers looked at sharkskin when designing the material for Thorpe’s suit. Thorpe has proved to be a world record breaker in his ‘fastskin’ suit but with size 17 feet for paddles, does it make any difference?

Have you ever wondered if fancy swim suits really affect your performance?

You might like to …

• investigate the effect of drag when something moves through water
• investigate whether things move through water more freely when it’s at different temperatures
• investigate which shapes move through water quickest
• find out about methods of reducing drag, and design and carry out tests to see how effective they are (for example, coat blocks with various surface finishes and see which falls to the bottom of a water tank quickest).

Further links:
http://www-rohan.sdsu.edu/dept/coachsci/swimming/bodysuit/fiveauth.htm

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