US swimmer Michael Phelps broke the record for Olympic gold medals won by taking his 10th and 11th in a double victory on Wednesday 13th August, 2008. Phelps, 23, won his fourth gold of the Beijing Olympics and 10th of all time with victory in the 200m butterfly.
An Indian born American scientist George Washington University researcher Rajat Mittal has been inquiring into the ease with which American swimmer Michael Phelps is winning so many Gold medals. He has spent the past five years studying Phelps and his dolphin kick - also known as the 'Berkoff Blastoff' after the Harvard backstroker who used it the first time at the Olympics 20 years ago.
According to him, Phelps was able to use his body in a way that is very, very different from the other athletes...much closer to dolphins than they had seen for any other swimmer. Phelps is able to straighten his massive size 14 feet to a greater angle (about 15 degrees) than any other swimmer, to reduce resistance. Almost 90 percent of all the thrust is coming from the foot and the flatter and bigger foot is, one essentially has a bigger paddle. Michael's foot size and the angle he generates with it plays a big role in his ability to swim very well.
But foot-size isn’t the only reason behind the Phelps phenomenon. Studies show that his powerful lungs can hold out longer underwater than most swimmers, eliminating the splash and drag that would result if he surfaced early.
In response to this news appeared in Times of India, S. P. Sudrik, Houston, says: Phelps also uses a swimming suit designed by NASA to simulate dolphin skin. Suit is lightweight, extremely stretchable, and reduces water friction and passive drag.
An Indian born American scientist George Washington University researcher Rajat Mittal has been inquiring into the ease with which American swimmer Michael Phelps is winning so many Gold medals. He has spent the past five years studying Phelps and his dolphin kick - also known as the 'Berkoff Blastoff' after the Harvard backstroker who used it the first time at the Olympics 20 years ago.
According to him, Phelps was able to use his body in a way that is very, very different from the other athletes...much closer to dolphins than they had seen for any other swimmer. Phelps is able to straighten his massive size 14 feet to a greater angle (about 15 degrees) than any other swimmer, to reduce resistance. Almost 90 percent of all the thrust is coming from the foot and the flatter and bigger foot is, one essentially has a bigger paddle. Michael's foot size and the angle he generates with it plays a big role in his ability to swim very well.
But foot-size isn’t the only reason behind the Phelps phenomenon. Studies show that his powerful lungs can hold out longer underwater than most swimmers, eliminating the splash and drag that would result if he surfaced early.
In response to this news appeared in Times of India, S. P. Sudrik, Houston, says: Phelps also uses a swimming suit designed by NASA to simulate dolphin skin. Suit is lightweight, extremely stretchable, and reduces water friction and passive drag.
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