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 Race Analyzer ™ Get In Touch Aqua-Phi Method™
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Parametrix Article
Background InformationParametrix Research is posting the following articles by Milt Nelms, which were originally posted on the Swimnews Website as parts of larger articles by Craig Lord. They are reproduced in their entirety here. The collaborative association of Milt Nelms, Bill Boomer, and Alex Nikitin goes back to the 1990's. During the development of Swimming Race Analysis program, discussions with Bill and Milt helped influence some choices on data points. Data yielded from Race Analysis and privately analyzed by Nikitin has strongly influenced the thinking of both Nelms and Boomer. There are three articles in the series: one an practical explanation of what flotation actually does to make faster swimming possible, a second that makes some suggestions about testing for flotation, and a third that is an interview of Mr. Nelms by Craig Lord. Faster Swimming and FlotationThe water is thick and heavy. Humans moving through the water expend energy.
The faster they move, the more energy they expend. When flotation is present
in swimwear, swimming changes. The amount of change depends upon the amount
and the location of the flotation within the swimwear The Aquatic Signature and Swimming The Aquatic Signature The human body naturally shapes itself in the water in a typical way, which is called the Aquatic Signature. The Angle and other traits of the Aquatic Signature vary greatly from person to person, but the basic character is the same for all human beings. 
Sketch #1 of Aquatic Signature The aquatic signature is an indication of the amount, and the location, of buoyancy that is naturally in a person’s body. The chest contains the lungs, so this part of the body floats upward. Everything from the lungs downward towards the feet is heavier than water, and tends to sink (Tummy, hips, legs). Everything above the lungs tends to sink as well. (Shoulders and arms, head and neck). 
Sketch # 2 of upright person with brackets showing zones Whenever I put someone into the water, whether the person is an elite swimmer, a non-swimmer, an athlete from another sport, or someone in the water for medical purposes, I try to ascertain the individual’s aquatic signature as the first order of business. The Aquatic Signature is a poor swimming position, especially when trying to go fast. A position that is horizontal and close to the surface is a much better position for swimming 
Sketch #3 comparison of signature and horizontal swimming position Basic stroke design is built around the Aquatic Signature as it’s primary consideration. Each stroke has instances when it is most prone to slipping back towards the poor swimming position of the aquatic signature, and instances where it is most inclined to be in the more favorable horizontal position. Stroke design is about minimizing the effect of the natural signature moments, and maximizing the effect of the natural horizontal moments. A swimmer’s most common way of moving from an Aquatic Signature to a horizontal position close to the surface, is to use forceful leverage by kicking downward on the water and while lengthening the body. 
Sketch #4 showing movement from Signature to horizontal This way of moving into a swimming position takes energy. Competitive swimmers typical spend many hours kicking (at speeds much slower than swimming speeds) to help make the legs stronger to help improve this leveling ability). Refining this level swimming position is one of the things that makes faster swimming possible. Green, Yellow, and Red Effects: There are three resistant effects that slow the swimmer down, and require energy to overcome. Listed in order from least aggressive to most aggressive, the effects are: 1. The resistance of the water as it passes over the skin, hair, and material of the swimming suit. (Green Effect) 
Sketch #5 in Green, showing arrows of water passing around the body 2. The resistance of the body as it creates a hole in the water. (Yellow Effect) 
Sketch #6 showing form drag positions in amber from side and front, less and more form drags 3. The resistance of the waves and turbulence of the water as the body moves forward (Red Effect) 
Sketch #7 showing waves from the top and side in red The least important of these three Effects in competitive swimming is number 1, (Green Effect). More important is number 2 (Yellow Effect), and most important is number 3, (Red Effect). The quality in point number 2, (Yellow Effect), that causes problems is the size of the hole the body makes in the water. The bigger the hole, the more of the heavy, thick water that is displaced, and the further that (the water) will need to go to get out of the way of the swimmer. The quality in point number 3, the Red Effect, that causes problems for the swimmer is created by the size, direction, and amount of turbulence in the waves made by the body as it moves forward. The hole in the water needs to open up and close behind the swimmer. This fact, plus the forms and fluctuations in the body, are what cause the Red Effect. The bigger the wave, the more agitated the wave, and the more oblique the angle away from the body of the wave, the greater the Red Effect. Increase of resistance The resistance made by the three resistance traits increases as the body moves faster through the water. The following statements are approximate, but generally accurate: · The effort needed by a swimmer to overcome the Green Effect
in point number 1 increases steadily as the swimmer goes faster. To summarize: If a swimmer is swimming at a fast speed and increases his speed slightly: · The Green Effect also increases slightly. Growth of resistance as swimming speed increases moves from Green, then to Yellow, then to Red. Flotation and the swimsuits Flotation has a very big effect on the Yellow Effect, which is made by the size of the hole the body makes in the water, because it makes the hole in the water smaller by raising the body upwards. The Yellow Effect, and the Red Effect, which is caused by waves, have a close relationship. If the Yellow Effect is reduced, then Red Effect is reduced also. When a swimsuit adds flotation, the water thus needs to travel less distance to get out of the way of the body, reducing the both the Yellow Effect, and the Red Effect. However, the reduction of the Red Effect helps the swimmer much more than does the reduction of the Yellow Effect. This is because the exponential factor in the Red Effect is much higher. Outcomes: The main performance-enhancing outcomes of adding flotation to a swimsuit are: Faster Speed Top speed increases with the same amount of power, so 50’s would get faster. Without doing anything to increase power, a swimmer will get faster. Better duration It will take less energy to maintain a given speed for events that require endurance. Without becoming more fit, a swimmer will be able to go further at the same speed, or, add speed over a distance without increasing effort. Extra Swimsuits Wearing more than one flotation swimsuit will, obviously, increase flotation. One suit raises the body, two suits raises the body more, three suits even more. A body which is higher in the water makes a smaller hole, which results in even faster and easier swimming. Leverage and swimming Force leverage is commonly used (by kicking downward) to move from the poor swimming position of the Aquatic Signature into a much more advantageous horizontal position. (sketch # 9 showing second class leverage) Three issues can be strongly affected when flotation is added to the legs of a swimsuit: 1. The length of a swimmer’s legs (both their actual linear length
and their percentage of overall body length) can cause the effective weight
of the legs to increase as they get longer. In a similar way the effective weight
of the legs can be decreased if the legs are shorter. In either case flotation
in the legs of a swimsuit will make the legs lighter. 
Sketch #8 Note: The results of flotation in points one and two will change the angle of the swimmer’s basic Aquatic Signature. (These changes will vary from individual to individual). If less force leverage is needed to get the body to a horizontal swimming position, which can be accomplished with leg flotation in a swimsuit, the results will be:
Conclusion Swimming is unique among sports, in that it has always been about the direct interaction of the human organism with the water environment. FINA rules about equipment reflect this unique trait of swimming.
Flotation assistance introduces an apparatus into swimming, which means that we are not talking about evolution of a sport. We are talking about replacing a unique non-equipment sport with a different sport which utilizes equipment.
The Greek mathematician, Archimedes, described both leverage and flotation over 2,000 years ago. However, external flotation as a performance enhancing tool was most likely discovered by an unnamed swimmer at some point in human history who grabbed onto a piece of floating wood to rest while swimming across a river. In competitive swimming, flotation is against the rules, covered under the buoyancy prohibition in FINA rules, which is the entity charged with stewardship of the sport. However, the rules have recently been abated (since early in 2008) to allow flotation. FINA have abdicated their regulatory duties to the control of market forces, which has allowed flotation devices to enter the sport. As a result, both flotation and the effective angle of an individual’s aquatic signature have been altered, resulting in the shift of a suit as a neutral or encumbering necessity into an apparatus. The introduction, for the first time in swimming history, of an apparatus into racing, has caused a shift in the direction of the sport. * Improvements in the swimming environment, such as lane lines, blocks, gutters, etc. are different. A flotation device worn on the body changes the interaction of the nervous system with the environment. It is this phenomena of direct interaction with the environment that has always made swimming unique among other sports. Early defense of the flotation swimsuits as a technology advancement similar to improvements in golf clubs or tennis racquets was put forward by non-experts in swimming, but still received favorable press at the time. In tennis and golf, the apparatus is the sport, which makes the comparison to swimming irrelevant and specious. All images © copyright by Milt Nelms. All rights reserved.
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Race Analyzer software allows a coach to watch a race in a completely different manner. It permits the coach to effectively critique races in a less subjective way, identifying specific elements of races that need improvement. 