Swimming With Sensors to Get the Gold

Popular Science | July 2015

Olympic swimmers are using high-tech motion-capture sensors designed by BMW to go faster

In swimming, form is just as crucial as force. Getting the smallest detail—even the angle of your ankle—just right is an obsession for the elite because it can mean the difference between podium and punching water. To help the pros, video analysis is now an indispensable training tool. “Before, we literally just used the coach’s eyeball,” to fix alignment, strokes, and kicks, says Nathan Adrian, a three-time gold medalist gunning for number four in Rio. “Now I strap LEDs on my body, and software does the analysis. The setup can be carried around in a suitcase.”… (read more)