13th FINA world championships: Analysis of swimsuits used by elite male swimmers

Authors

  • Henrique P. Neiva University of Beira Interior, Portugal
  • João Paulo Vilas-Boas University of Porto, Portugal
  • Tiago M. Barbosa Polytechnic Institute of Bragança, Portugal
  • António J. Silva University of Trás-os-Montes and Alto Douro, Portugal
  • Daniel A. Marinho University of Beira Interior, Portugal

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.4100/jhse.2011.61.10

Keywords:

Swimming, Drag, Polyurethane, Techniques, Distances, Technology

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to describe the distribution of different swimsuits models used by male swimmers during all the finals at the 13th FINA World Championships, being held at Rome in 2009. Simultaneously, it was intended to verify the distribution of the different swimsuits used along the distances of the freestyle finals, and thus to understand the preferences of the top-level swimmers. It were used the results databases from the 13th FINA World Championships, in Rome 2009. Only the male swimmers participating at the finals were analyzed, for a total number of 17 individual swimming events. The wear swimsuit by each swimmer in a given event was observed from video recorded of the television broadcast. Male swimmers participating in the finals limited their choice to seven types of commercial swimsuits, of four different sports brands. Jaked01 Full® was the most used (47.07%), followed by the Powerskin X-Glide Full® (34.56%), the Powerskin X-Glide Pants® (7.35%) and the LZR Racer Full® (5.15%). In freestyle swimming events most of the male swimmers choose to wear full body swimsuits. Jaked01 Full® was predominant in the 50 m event, with 62.50% of swimmers choices. This value decreases to 25.00% when analyzing 100 m event, and remained similar over the longer distances swum. The Powerskin X-Glide Full® was used for 37.50% of the swimmers in 50 m swimming event, and it increases to 62.50% for the 100 m freestyle. These results seem to demonstrate that swimmers have preferences for full swimsuits, and for these two swimsuits, the Powerskin X-Glide Full® and the Jaked01 Full®.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

References

Berthelot, G., Len, S., Hellard, P., Tafflet, M., Helou, N.E., Escolano, S., Guillaume, M., Schaal, K., Nassif, H., Desgorces, F.D., Toussaint, J.F. Technology & swimming: 3 steps beyond physiology. Materials Today. 2010; 11:46-51. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1369-7021(10)70203-0

Bixler, B., Pease, D., Fairhurst, F. The accuracy of computational fluid dynamics analysis of the passive drag of a male swimmer. Sports Biomech. 2007; 6(1):81-98. https://doi.org/10.1080/14763140601058581

Chatard, J.C., Millet, G. Effects of wetsuit use in swimming events. Sports Med. 1996; 22: 70-75. https://doi.org/10.2165/00007256-199622020-00002

Chatard, J.C., Senegas, X., Selles, M., Dreanot, P., Geyssant, A. Wet suit effect: a comparison between competitive swimmers and triathletes. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 1995; 27(4):580- 586. https://doi.org/10.1249/00005768-199504000-00017

Chollet, D., Chavallard, F., Seifert, L., Lemaître, F. Do Fastskin Swimsuits Influence Coordination in Front Crawl Swimming and Glide? In: PL Kjendlie, RK Stallman,J Cabri (Eds). Biomechanics and Medicine in Swimming XI. Norwegian School of Sport Sciences: Oslo; 2010. 55-57.

Cortesi, M., Zamparo, P., Tam, E., Da Boit, M., Gatta, G. The Effect of Wearing a Synthetic Rubber Suit on Hydrostatic Lift and Lung Volume. In: PL Kjendlie, RK Stallman,J Cabri (Eds). Biomechanics and Medicine in Swimming XI. Norwegian School of Sport Sciences: Oslo; 2010. 57-59.

Kainuma, E., Watanabe, M., Tomiyama-Miyaji, C., Inoue, M., Kuwano, Y., Ren, H., Abo, T. Proposal of alternative mechanism responsible for the function of high-speed swimsuits. Biomed Res. 2009; 30(1):69-70. https://doi.org/10.2220/biomedres.30.69

Marinho, D.A., Barbosa, T.M., Kjendlie, P.L., Vilas-Boas, J.P., Alves, F.B., Rouboa, A.I., Silva, A.J. Swimming simulation: a new tool for swimming research and practical applications. In: M Peters (Ed). Lecture Notes in Computational Science and Engineering. 2009; 72:33-61. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-04466-3_2

Mclean, S.P., Hinrichs, R.N. Buoyancy, gender, and swimming performance. J Appl Biomech. 2000; 16:248-63. https://doi.org/10.1123/jab.16.3.248

Mollendorf, J.C., Termin Ii, A.C., Oppenheim, E., Pendergaast, D.R. Effect of swim suit design on passive drag. Med. Sci. Sports Exerc. 2004; 36(6):1029-1035. https://doi.org/10.1249/01.MSS.0000128179.02306.57

Mountjoy, M., Gordon, I., Mckeown, J., Constantini, N. Medical complications of an aquatic innovation. Br J Sports Med. 2009; 43:979-980. https://doi.org/10.1136/bjsm.2009.067215

Pendergast, D.R., Mollendorf, J.C., Cuviello, R., Termin, I.I. Application of theoretical principles to swimsuit drag reduction. Sports Eng. 2006; 9:65-76. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02844859

Tomikawa, M., Shimoyama, Y., Nomura, T. Factors related to the advantageous effects of wearing a wetsuit during swimming at different submaximal velocity in triathletes. J Sci Med Sport. 2008; 11:417-23. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsams.2007.02.005

Toussaint, H.M., Bruinink, L., Coster, R., De Looze, M., Van Rossem, B., Van Veenen, R., De Groot, G. Effect of a triathlon wetsuit on drag during swimming. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 1989; 21:325-28. https://doi.org/10.1249/00005768-198906000-00017

Toussaint, H.M., Truijens, M., Elzinga, M.J., Van De Ven, A., De Best, H., De Groot. G. Effect of a Fast-skin "body" suit on drag during front crawl swimming. Sports Biomech. 2002; 1(1):1-10. https://doi.org/10.1080/14763140208522783

Statistics

Statistics RUA

Published

2011-03-31

How to Cite

Neiva, H. P., Vilas-Boas, J. P., Barbosa, T. M., Silva, A. J., & Marinho, D. A. (2011). 13th FINA world championships: Analysis of swimsuits used by elite male swimmers. Journal of Human Sport and Exercise, 6(1), 87–93. https://doi.org/10.4100/jhse.2011.61.10

Issue

Section

Performance Analysis of Sport

Most read articles by the same author(s)

1 2 > >>