Swimsuit Design Uses Supercomputing 253
Roland Piquepaille writes "These days, most competitive swimmers wear some type of body suit to reduce high skin-friction drag from water. And makers of swimwear are already busy working on new models for the Olympics 2008. According to Textile & Apparel, Speedo is even using a supercomputer to refine its designs. Its engineers run Fluent Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) program on an SGI Altix system."
Re:Nice to see (Score:5, Interesting)
Posting anonymously to avoid people realizing that my main account is associated with an actual *shudder* athlete.
Ask God (Score:2, Interesting)
"According to an apocryphal story, Werner Heisenberg was asked what he would ask God, given the opportunity. His reply was: "When I meet God, I am going to ask him two questions: Why relativity? And why turbulence? I really believe he will have an answer for the first." A similar witticism has been attributed to Horace Lamb (who had published a noted text book on Hydrodynamics)--his choice being quantum mechanics (instead of relativity) and turbulence. Lamb was quoted as saying in a speech to the British Association for the Advancement of Science, "I am an old man now, and when I die and go to heaven there are two matters on which I hope for enlightenment. One is quantum electrodynamics, and the other is the turbulent motion of fluids. And about the former I am rather optimistic."
truly pathetic (Score:3, Interesting)
when are we going to see genetically engineered super athletes?
Thirty years ago... (Score:1, Interesting)
It's been reported that both the Soviet Union and East Germany had programs to breed genetically-superior athletes for international sporting competitions, including the Olympics. That was as far back as the 1960s. Such programs may be considered a form of genetic engineering.
Re:Bah! (Score:5, Interesting)
Anything that tries to stop technology and innovation from affecting a sport is inherently doomed to failure. A better approach would be to embrace innovation, in all sports, since this would have the effect of making the sports more interesting, and more relevant to society in general (by encouraging technological development, things would be produced that benefit everyone -- putting the focus on athleticism, while amusing to watch, doesn't produce any tangible benefit for the rest of us).
However, I agree, nude sports would get much better television ratings. Find some way to justify nude beach volleyball, and you have yourself a winner.
technology overrated? (Score:5, Interesting)
For example, it was reputed that the shark skin suits of the past couple olympics were the reasons for new world records, though I have not seem any anylsis that showed the more records were set. Putting the suits on olympics swimmers, often with compensation, seems more a marketing thing than a performance thing. All attire options are about the same, so why not choose the option that will bring in a little cash. It is good investment for the company as consumers will see the product, percieve value, and be more willing to pay the offered price.
None of which proves the suit is a useful product. In fact when reading about the suits, the issue seems more about insuring the suit is not counterproductive rather than significantly improving on bare skin. In the past they have said things "like four percent impovement over the past model", and then cited all the deficiencies of the past model.
Re:Olympics should be about the athletes (Score:3, Interesting)
Actually no! The olympics should be about having fun. That's why it's called the Olympic games. But that was a long time ago, these days it's a race of sponsors, tv-rights, doping and winning the gold medal. The old idea of free amateurs competing together as a symbolic gesture of peace between nations somehow got forgotten somewhere.
Re:Thirty years ago... (Score:3, Interesting)
Wikipedia [wikipedia.org]
Re:Nice to see (Score:5, Interesting)
It's rather ironic, if you think about it. I like to consider Slashdot a rather liberal and progressive thinking body, but sometimes the opposite is true. It seems that, as a whole, Slashdot still believes in the mesomorph/ectomorph "theory" - as if muscles and intelligence/work ethic are mutually exclusive. Some members seem to ignore the fact that being an athlete makes life harder, not easier. It isn't as if being an athlete suddenly makes you stupid, or suddenly makes you popular, or suddenly lets you get through life with a free pass.
I swim six days a week. Four of those days are two-a-days. That means I end up swimming six hours instead of only three. That does not include out-of-practice training, such as jogging and extra gym work. While most people are enjoying winter break, I (and many other student athletes) endure winter training. Instead of four two-a-days, we do six a week. Instead of going off to party during spring break, we go to a Mexican plateau for high altitude training. Instead of slacking off during the summer, I swim even more than during college practices. During the entire year, I have a one week break from swimming at the end of summer. Since you were a cross country runner, I am sure you had a similar training regimen.
And what is all this for? Nothing, really. When I turn 23 and graduate from college, I'll probably never swim at a meet again. I didn't need it for college - I already had an academic scholarship. I certainly didn't do it to be "popular" - you don't have time to be. I have a passion, and that is swimming. When I made the cuts for two events at the the Olympic time trials, I was probably the happiest 19 year old on Earth. I knew I had no chance of actually making the Olympic team, mind you - but just being there, and swimming in the same pool as some of the greatest athletes alive will be a picture in my mind for the rest of my life. Three months ago, I injured my shoulder. The chances of me making the Olympic team in '08, or swimming after college, are all but gone, as I won't be able to train effectively for another 6-9 months as I recover from surgery. But I still go to practice each and every day, even if it's just to kick with fins for three hours. I just wish some people here could respect a passion for something other than what the fastast processor is, I guess, is what I'm trying to say.