Education Law

Olympic science part II

Olympic swimmers are smashing records. Michael Phelps is proof enough of that fact, but how does he do it? Is it the new Speedo suits? The deeper pool? The answer, experts say, doesn't solely rest with the latest space-aged Speedo. The record breaking began at last year's world championships before its release.

Speaking of records, Michael Phelps broke the career gold-medal record at the Olympics. Phelps won his fourth gold of the Beijing Olympics in the 200m butterfly, and he claimed his fifth gold as part of the U.S. 4x200m freestyle team. That gives him 11 career gold medals. Michael Phelps has now surpassed the nine golds won by Paavo Nurmi, Carl Lewis, Mark Spitz and Larysa Latynina.

So BoardBuzz thought if we take a closer look at Phelps' performance we just may learn something. And we did. It all comes down to something called the dolphin kick or fly kick. The swimming superstar has refined dolphin kick technique and uses it to devastating effect to take yards out of his opponents at the start and at turns. So what is it?

Emulating the way a dolphin cuts through the water with its flipper, the dolphin kick replaces a standard underwater leg kick with an explosive whipping motion. A true dolphin kick involves more than the legs. As Popular Science writes, "It requires a swimmer?s entire body to crack like a whip, creating a fluid wave that starts at the chest and increases in amplitude as it travels all the way through the toes." It is a tricky movement to perfect, but performed correctly at the right time the kick can provide a powerful surge through the water. And perfect it Michael Phelps certainly has.

But what does the science say? Thankfully, Rajat Mittal, PhD, and a team of 10 researchers who make up the Flow Simulations and Analysis Group (FSAG) at George Washington University have done a study on the fluid dynamics of the dolphin kick. Popular Science reports on their findings:

They calculated that more than 75 percent of the propulsive force of the dolphin kick comes from snapping the ankle. ?If you have the ability to flip your ankle like a ballet dancer, you?ll get more whiplash action,? says Rajat Mittal, who has consulted with USA Swimming. The elite swimmers they?ve studied can bend their ankles beyond that of a ballerina?s pointed toe.

Did we mention that Michael Phelps is double-jointed and has size 14 feet? Sounds to us like he was born to master the dolphin kick.

Full post as published by BoardBuzz: NSBA's Daily Weblog on August 13, 2008 (boomark / email).