Swimming World Records Shattered
What's with all of the swimming world records being broken? Every time I turn on the TV, I see another swimming world record being shattered. Is the new technology really that good?
To give this a little context, the comparison of swimming to track & field is quite startling.
For the record, I don't think there's anything wrong with a sport embracing technology - resulting in athletes being better, faster, and stronger - so long as everyone plays by the same rules. By embracing technology, however, it does make time comparisons across decades pretty much useless. The real question is why isn't the same thing happening in Track & Field?
To give this a little context, the comparison of swimming to track & field is quite startling.
For the record, I don't think there's anything wrong with a sport embracing technology - resulting in athletes being better, faster, and stronger - so long as everyone plays by the same rules. By embracing technology, however, it does make time comparisons across decades pretty much useless. The real question is why isn't the same thing happening in Track & Field?
Here are the things to Chinese and IOc did to make this pool optimal for World Records.
To promote the breaking of swimming world records, the Chinese have optimized their Water Cube pool for speed by: (1) Keeping the water at 80.6 degrees, the temperature considered optimal for swimmers; (2) pumping 'microbubbles' into the pool to break the water's surface tension; (3) building the pool to a depth of approximately 10 feet, which prevents water-temperature interference; and (4) introducing a ventilation system that whisks chlorine fumes off the surface of the water, allowing the athletes to breathe clean air.
Add to that you bring in the new Speedo suit (which has created a major lawsuit), and records are going to fall.
Im not sure if you can duplicate these kinds of advances on a track. Make shoes lighter, create a track surface with less friction...? I dont know, but Im sure Nike will try to figure this out now that it sees all the attention swimming is getting. But an athlete like M. Phelps helps too.
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I still don't understand why these kinds of improvements aren't available in other sports - but I agree with you on swimming as it pertains to Beijing. I guess the next question is - can the swimming world records continue to be broken at this pace after Beijing? The technology can only move so fast, right? At some point, you'd expect a bit of a plateau until the next wave of technology comes through.
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