David and Peggy travel to the Olympic Training Center. Discussion Scientists have developed many devices to analyze every detail of an athletes performance. Advanced sports technology employs high-speed cinematography, force and torque measurement equipment, ergometers, electromyography, wind tunnels, mathematical modeling and many other devices.
Athletes also employ biomechanics in their training.
Biomechanics is the study of how the laws of physics can be applied to the human body. The biomechanics of swimming were ignored for years because it was very hard to quantify results in a open pool. But with the flume, a kind of treadmill for swimmers, scientists can now bring high-tech measurement and analysis to the Olympic swimmer. To understand how the flume helps the swimmer improve the streamlining of a stroke, involves a basic understanding of hydrodynamics. Swimming differs from land sports in that energy must be expended to overcome drag forces which oppose forward movement of an object through a fluid.