Swimming Starts are Independent of the Swimmer

Abstract

In this study, the kinematics of swimming starts was analyzed to determine if a start can be considered independent of different elite swimmers. The initial, jump and flight phases of the start was analyzed, only the entry phase was neglected. A 2D motion capture system was used to capture starts for 9 joints on 3 different subjects. The data was analyzed to generate angular position, velocity and acceleration for each start and subject. These quantities were analyzed to determine the kinematics of the swimming start. The angular position, velocity and acceleration were found to be independent of the subject for the initial and jump phases. There were differences in each of the kinematic quantities; however these differences can be explained by different agility levels and muscular strength for the initial and jump phases. Only the angular position was shown to be independent for the flight phase. The angular velocity and acceleration had too much variance during the flight phases because of constant adjustments being made to prepare the subject for entry. The average difference from point to point on a joint was small. The time for each subject to leave the block was also determined to be independent of the elite swimmer because .1s was the max time that separated two starts from two different subjects.