12 Mar '16 01:29>
A question arising in the GF.
Is there any extra drag on a swimmer in shallow water compared to deep water?
Is there any extra drag on a swimmer in shallow water compared to deep water?
Originally posted by twhiteheadCorrect me if I'm wrong, but I think the effect of them getting taller as they approach shore would be predominantly driven by conservation of energy. The effect of "breaking" at shore would be driven by the drag effect.
This is presumably the same effect that causes waves to get taller and eventually break at the sea shore.
Originally posted by joe shmoThe waves are slower as they approach the shore which causes the increased height (through conservation of energy as you say). Similarly in a pool, a shallower pool will have slower higher waves for a given amount of energy, thus a bow wave will cause the swimmer more drag.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think the effect of them getting taller as they approach shore would be predominantly driven by conservation of energy. The effect of "breaking" at shore would be driven by the drag effect.
Originally posted by joe shmoThe breaking effect is because the speed of the wave depends on the depth of water. Near the shore the height of the wave is the same order of magnitude as the depth of the sea so the crest of the wave moves faster than the trough, which causes the peaks to sort of overrun the troughs which is why the wave breaks.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think the effect of them getting taller as they approach shore would be predominantly driven by conservation of energy. The effect of "breaking" at shore would be driven by the drag effect.
Originally posted by wolfgang59That might well depend on the swimmer, and what they are wearing.
Any idea when this becomes negligible for a swimmer?
FINA specifies a minimum depth of just 1 metre,
but stipulates 2m for Olympic Games and World Champs.
2008 Olympics
The Aquatics Center hosted the swimming, diving and synchronized swimming events during the Olympics. Water polo was originally planned to be hosted in the venue but was moved to the Ying Tung Natatorium.
Many people believed the Water Cube to be the fastest Olympic pool[14] in the world. It is 1.314 meters deeper than most Olympic pools. The London 2012 Aquatics Centre is the same depth, which leads many to believe the London pool is as fast as, if not faster than, the Beijing pool. Up to a certain limit, beyond which swimmers will lose their sense of vision, deeper pools allow the waves to dissipate to the bottom, leading to less water disturbance to the swimmers. The pool also has perforated gutters on both sides to absorb the waves.[citation needed]
The Aquatics Center saw 25 world records broken in the Beijing Olympics,[3] however, all the records broken were accomplished by athletes using the super-slick swimwear which have become banned at the beginning of the 2010 season by the International Swimming Federation (FINA).[15]
Originally posted by googlefudgeThanks.
That might well depend on the swimmer, and what they are wearing.
The less streamlined you are and the faster you go the bigger the displacement wave
and thus the deeper the water needs to be.
The Beijing and London Olympic pools may well be at [or beyond] the limit.
Originally posted by DeepThoughtSo drag doesn't create the breaking effect at all? The way I'm thinking about it is as follows:
The breaking effect is because the speed of the wave depends on the depth of water. Near the shore the height of the wave is the same order of magnitude as the depth of the sea so the crest of the wave moves faster than the trough, which causes the peaks to sort of overrun the troughs which is why the wave breaks.