Swimming goes high tech

Scientists have developed inertial systems, worn in a full-body swimming suit, which can analyse the strengths and weaknesses of elite-level swimmers during workout sessions. It's a revolutionary new tool for coaches. Will scientists play a role in creating the next Michael Phelps or Laure Manaudou? Researchers from EPFL and University of Lausanne have at least taken the first step, by developing a tool that can help improve elite swimmers' workouts. Upon the request of the Lausanne Natation swimming club, they developed waterproof inertial systems to be sewn into the swimming suit, equipped with accelerometers and gyroscopes that can record a variety of measurements as the athlete swims. "This system, called Physilog III, has a number of advantages over the conventional cameras that coaches have been using up to this point," explains Farzin Dadashi, researcher in charge of the project. "A camera can only focus on one swimmer at a time and it takes several days to analyze the data. Worn by the swimmers, our system provides a practical tool to analyze the performance from several athletes simultaneously, and it only takes a few minutes." Extensive crawl and breaststroke tests - To carry out his research, Farzin Dadashi ran the Lausanne Natation swimmers, who are among Switzerland's best, through a complete battery of tests.