In 2010, when the International Swimming Federation banned the use of fast swimsuits, many people predicted that they would not break world records for a long time to come. However, the world's swimming performance has improved to varying degrees. Lin Hong, a researcher at the Sports Science Research Institute of the General Administration of Sport of China and an authoritative expert in sports biomechanics in China, stated in an interview with Xinhua News Agency that fast swimsuits have brought progress and a new understanding of swimming technology, which is to "swim like a fish.".
Fast swimsuits used to promote the concept of reducing resistance, but after discussing and experimenting with fluid mechanics experts at Beihang University, Lin Hong found that fast swimsuits did not have significant effects in reducing resistance, water absorption, and buoyancy. After experimental testing and analysis, Lin Hong believes that a fast swimsuit with 100% coverage of polyurethane improves the streamline of the human body in water, enhances the momentum transfer effect during the "whip" action, and makes the human body more inclined towards the body characteristics of fish, which are tight and elastic. This is the fundamental reason why fast swimsuits help athletes significantly improve their performance, rather than the so-called "increasing buoyancy or reducing resistance".
In the swimming competition of the 2012 London Olympics, athletes from various countries set a total of 8 world records and 21 Olympic records. The world records for the 2013 Barcelona and 2015 Kazan World Championships are still constantly being rewritten, and the success of figures such as Sun Yang, Ye Shiwen, Jiao Liuyang, and Ning Zetao further confirms Lin Hong's theory of technological renewal, which is "returning to nature and swimming like a fish.".
Lin Hong believes that after the ban on fast swimsuits, athletes' sense of technical ontology and technical inertia continue. Athletes pursue a streamlined body shape that is flat, straight, pointed, tight, and high during the swimming process, maintaining a tight and elastic body, especially with a tight torso and high hips. Only in this way can we ensure smooth transmission, better exert the combined force of the body, and maintain good athletic balance, just like a fish swimming.
The improvement of any specialized technique is closely related to the physical condition and physical fitness of the athlete. Swimmers require good mobility, flexibility, elasticity, and strength in all joints of the body, especially in the distal ankle and wrist joints. This is the physical condition and ability that professional athletes need to understand and must possess. Training for thousands or tens of thousands of meters every day is for this purpose. Only by understanding the technique can we better understand it To execute effectively is to achieve twice the result with half the effort. "This is also the main reason why China's swimming performance has steadily improved in recent years," said Lin Hong.
Improving power and reducing resistance are the goals pursued by swimmers. Before the ban on fast swimsuits, some people hoped for external forces to improve performance. Later, as swimming professionals, we focused more on thinking and practicing technology, training, and physical fitness. Swimming technology has ushered in a new development concept: fully understanding the relationship between body, psychology, and technology, understanding individual characteristics, and using technological means to Through diligent training, to achieve perfect integration of technology and body and mind, reaching the pinnacle. If you have a heart, take action. If you have a heart, you must have a heart, and your heart and actions should be one
"We describe people who swim fast as' flying fish ', which is absolutely true. If we can' swim like a fish 'technically, we are definitely skilled swimmers," Lin Hong said.
