Olympic Swimmers Emulate Sharks & Dolphins

by lealokman | May 16, 2008 at 05:00 pm | 1022 views | 31 comments

While many Olympians go through excruciating lengths to shed milliseconds off of their race times, the U.S. Olympic Swimming Team have called on a new focus - that is, emulating the natural technique of the best and most powerful swimmers in the world: sharks and dolphins.

From suits to strokes, coaches, researchers and other advisers are making sure that their athletes benefit from fish and marine mammals' natural swimming abilities.
"Some of our athletes are now wearing what are called 'shark skin suits,'" Russell Mark, biomechanics coordinator for U.S.A. Swimming, told Discovery News.
"These aren't made of actual shark skin, of course, but they are slippery in feel, like sharks, and they make the wearer move faster than normal in the water by reducing friction and drag," he explained.

Mark also indicated that excelling at the dolphin kick can make or break a swimmer's race.
"This is when swimmers push off walls and swim underwater without moving their arms, very similar to how a dolphin swims," he said.
The move emulates how dolphins zoom through water by moving their flipper in an up and down motion. Sharks, in contrast, move side to side. Humans are mammals like dolphins and the up and down undulating motion propels people as it does dolphins. The dolphin kick is one of the most powerful moves among professional swimmers.

Sharks are some of the world's fastest swimmers. One impressive species is the shortfin mako, which has been reliably clocked at 31 miles per hour underwater. Everything about this fish is designed for swimming in short bursts of perfection. It has a streamlined body, a crescent-shaped tail supported by keels and a water-cutting, pointed snout.

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camerabug2

at 09:33 on May 17th, 2008

Taken at the LaoHutan Ocean Park at Dalian, China. The dolphin was given a hula hoop to twirl.. the little girl was picked from the audience..

camerabug2 has contributed a photo to this story.

r_j_g

at 10:42 on May 17th, 2008

Tangalooma Wild Dolphin Resort on Moreton Island. About 8 to 10 dolphins come in each evening for feeding. The research team manage this each day allowing resort guests to feed the dolphins in a controlled way.

They feed the dolphins about 10% of their daily requirements, meaning the dolphins do not rely on this food source and continue to hunt in Moreton Bay in their respective pods.

Whilst coming in to feed the researchers can witness and record the behaviour of the dolphins first hand. Particularly valuable research as these remain wild dolphins.

r_j_g has contributed a photo to this story.

Tail-Swishing

at 12:10 on May 17th, 2008

good stuff:

lealokman, I like this story. It's good stuff.

Tail-Swishing

at 12:14 on May 17th, 2008

The photos from myself were taken from the shore at Chanonry point of a couple of the dolphins from a resident pod in the Moray Firth, Scotland.

.Ren.

at 12:28 on May 17th, 2008

Dolphins photographed in the evening, sailing off the East coast of Florida, just North of Fort Lauderdale.

.Ren. has contributed a photo to this story.

Cynmat

at 14:20 on May 17th, 2008

This photo was taken at Sea World in San Diego, CA.

Cynmat has contributed a photo to this story.

hilisapie

at 14:23 on May 17th, 2008

Ran into a bunch of dolphins last weekend near in the Sea of Cortez near Los Barilles in Baja California Sur, Mexico.

Chris1051

at 15:50 on May 17th, 2008

I took this picture in the aquarium at Gatlinburg.

Chris1051 has contributed a photo to this story.

mazziotti84065

at 18:18 on May 17th, 2008

My exprience at SeaWorld was amazing. I was honored to be near such an amazing creature.

mazziotti84065 has contributed a photo to this story.

twotom192004

at 19:00 on May 17th, 2008

While visiting the Mirage Hotel in Las Vegas..we went to one of our favorite places..The Dolphin Habitat. While I was in the underwater observation area I was able to take this photo using a polarized filter. Photographing the dolphins never gets old, and they always seem to be smiling!

twotom192004 has contributed a photo to this story.

kevin_koepke

at 20:04 on May 17th, 2008

Fisherman caught a baby hammerhead shark in Florida.

kevin_koepke has contributed a photo to this story.

coffeenopolis

at 20:23 on May 17th, 2008

Rebo is a bottlenose dolphin born in 2007 in the oceanarium Mundo Marino, Argentina.

coffeenopolis has contributed a photo to this story.

Jedd Lawler

at 20:36 on May 17th, 2008

Good stuff, however, i'm pretty sure sharks and dolphins are actually emulating this guy (my little brother).

Jedd Lawler has contributed a photo to this story.

grasshopper25

at 20:46 on May 17th, 2008

There were 3 really near the shore...just playing with the waves. Unfortunately by the time I got the camera out and focused, this was all I got!!!! Last time I saw them this close I got the whole pod....a much better shot!!!

grasshopper25 has contributed a photo to this story.

ina yusoff

at 21:57 on May 17th, 2008

we were diving in Sipadan Island, Malaysia when I saw this lone shark swimming above us. it seems that the shark was hunting for his morning breakfast.. a sight to be captured.

ina yusoff has contributed a photo to this story.

aimee1973

at 00:39 on May 18th, 2008

aimee1973 has contributed a photo to this story.

ii_rosna

at 12:16 on May 18th, 2008

Took this picture in Misool, Raja Ampat, Papua, INDONESIA.

...amazing creature in amazing place...

ii_rosna has contributed a photo to this story.

tonyanooner

at 17:52 on May 18th, 2008

This photo was taken in Bora Bora, French Polynesia on May 11, 2008. My husband and I were actually in the water with them! It was AMAZING. We used the Olympus Stylus 850 SW underwater camera.

tonyanooner has contributed a photo to this story.

rc6750

at 23:05 on May 18th, 2008

Staniel Cay, Exumas

rc6750 has contributed a photo to this story.

pawel.su

at 02:20 on May 19th, 2008

big shark's coming

pawel.su has contributed a photo to this story.

amyandchriswelsh

at 09:04 on May 19th, 2008

This was a cat shark that we saw while in Cancun, Mexico.

amyandchriswelsh has contributed a photo to this story.

DramaDrash

at 08:26 on May 20th, 2008

The special olympian pictured here tags off in a four-man relay.

DramaDrash has contributed a photo to this story.

jambii01

at 15:51 on May 21st, 2008

I am glad you like my photo!

jambii01 has contributed a photo to this story.

lvnliffun

at 20:40 on May 21st, 2008

This picture was taken at SeaWorld, San Antonio. I have watched the Viva show hundreds of times and it never fails to amaze me!

lvnliffun has contributed a photo to this story.

pinkolivia

at 19:58 on May 22nd, 2008

I took this from the media side of the Aquatics venue at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, GA.

pinkolivia has contributed a photo to this story.

MomentsInTime70

at 23:03 on May 23rd, 2008

This is a nationally ranked swimmer in Ontario Canada. I shot this of him late spring 2007 - in a very cold Lake Ontario!
His stride and kick is amazing. This is one of my favourite shots.

MomentsInTime70 has contributed a photo to this story.

unicornodeath

at 17:27 on May 24th, 2008

This pool is at the Golden Nugget in downtown Las Vegas, NV. You can see the pool in front of the shark tank, and the water slide that goes through the tank as well.

unicornodeath has contributed a photo to this story.

DASc0tt

at 18:22 on May 24th, 2008

Mother and calf dolphin observed on a boat trip from Gairloch in the Scottish Highlands in July 2006.

DASc0tt has contributed a photo to this story.

Shaun091

at 07:19 on May 29th, 2008

It was amazing to see these trained dolphins jumping and doing tricks in sync, I would recommend Sea World Florida to be the place top of your list to go if you visit the area.

Shaun091 has contributed a photo to this story.

coqui2007

at 23:59 on May 31st, 2008

We were on a cruise in Captiva Island. 3 dolphins followed the back of the boat. We saw dolphins in Lighthouse beach on Sanibel island. They were awesome to watch!

coqui2007 has contributed a photo to this story.