Introduction Once upon a time, swimmers used to swim a side-stroke action in the event called freestyle. But then a group of Australian swimmers began to use a different stroke. Before long, the new action was known as the Australian crawl stroke and now when somebody mentions a freestyle stroke, this is the stroke they refer to. A little Australian ingenuity changed the way people swam and ushered in a new era of record times. The modern crawl stroke has continued to develop from the original Australian crawl but that just goes to show that there are always new developments to be made in sport science and technology.
Science now has a huge impact on sports around the globe.
All major countries have sport science institutes that exist solely to understand the science of sports and to improve performances. There are three main ways in which science can improve sport. The first is in improving the way an athlete performs the sport, such as the introduction of the Australian crawl. The next is for athletes to use equipment in new ways and the last is to use better equipment. When you watch tennis, you can see the speed of serves displayed next to the court.