Individual–Environment Interactions in Swimming: The Smallest Unit for Analysing the Emergence of Coordination Dynamics in Performance?

Abstract

Displacement in competitive swimming is highly dependent on fluid characteristics, since athletes use these properties to propel themselves. It is essential for sport scientists and practitioners to clearly identify the interactions that emerge between each individual swimmer and properties of an aquatic environment. Traditionally, the two protagonists in these interactions have been studied separately. Determining the impact of each swimmer's movements on fluid flow, and vice versa, is a major challenge. Classic biomechanical research approaches have focused on swimmers' actions, decomposing stroke characteristics for analysis, without exploring perturbations to fluid flows. Conversely, fluid mechanics research has sought to record fluid behaviours, isolated from the constraints of competitive swimming environments (e.g. analyses in two-dimensions, fluid flows passively studied on mannequins or robot effectors). With improvements in technology, however, recent investigations have focused on the emergent circular couplings between swimmers' movements and fluid dynamics. Here, we provide insights into concepts and tools that can explain these on-going dynamical interactions in competitive swimming within the theoretical framework of ecological dynamics. 3 Key points Swimming movements are characterised by continuous interactions between individuals and the aquatic environment: water is essential to progression, yet it also acts as a brake on swimmers' displacement.  Ecological dynamics is a theoretical framework that provides concepts and tools to investigate the continuous coupling of performers and the performance environment in swimming, providing an indivisible entity for analysis.  Key ideas in ecological dynamics (constraints and affordances) are highlighted to help coaches to design representative practice contexts for athletes that simulate competitive performance environments in swimming.4

Forças internas que afetam o nadador: Uma revisão sistemática

“…Estudos de locomoção na natação competitiva são altamente condicionados às características dos fluidos, uma vez que os nadadores se utilizam destas propriedades para se impulsionarem (GUIGNARD et al, 2017). Neste sentido, é essencial que cientistas e profissionais do esporte identifiquem as interações que emergem entre o nadador e as propriedades de um ambiente aquático, dado que a avaliação da natação é um dos tópicos mais complexos, marcantes e fascinantes da biomecânica (MARINHO et al, 2010 Como um dos diferentes métodos aplicados na natação, têm-se a dinâmica dos fluidos computacional (CFD) (XIE; LI; YAN, 2018).…”

“…O CFD é aplicado em muitas pesquisas (BANKS et al, 2014;RIEWALD, 2002;LAMAS et al, 2011;MANTHA et al, 2014;POPA et al, 2014) na tentativa de entender profundamente as bases biomecânicas da natação. Assim, esta técnica pode ser considerada uma nova abordagem relevante para avaliação das forças hidrodinâmicas na natação (GUIGNARD et al, 2017). Com isso, e como visto nesta revisão, a força e seus resultados no nadador acabam por ser negligenciadas.…”

“…Consequentemente, os estudos fornecem evidências convincentes de que, num futuro próximo, como no presente, o CFD fornecerá novos argumentos para definir novas técnicas ou equipamentos de natação (MARINHO et al, 2010). Determinar o impacto dos movimentos de cada nadador no fluxo de fluido e vice-versa é um grande desafio (GUIGNARD et al, 2017). Não obstante, estes cálculos ainda carecem de validade ecológica quanto a sua produção.…”

Athletic Races Represent Complex Systems, and Pacing Behavior Should Be Viewed as an Emergent Phenomenon

“…In other sports, features of the environment in which the activity is performed also influence the behaviors displayed. In swimming, since the aquatic environment offers a high degree of resistance, the propulsion provided by each stroke emerges from interactions between the fluid and the swimmers actions ( Guignard et al, 2017 ). The relationship between the environment and propulsive forces generated during each stroke is further complicated during open water events, where water can be turbulent but beneficial drafting effects may be obtained.…”

Effect of leg kick on active drag in front-crawl swimming: Comparison of whole stroke and arms-only stroke during front-crawl and the streamlined position

“…Besides, when we estimate active drag using the MRT method, we need to use a flume, belt and metronome. Guignard et al (2017) noted the necessity to perform measurements that are representative of a competition context.…”