A new approach for identifying phases of the breaststroke wave kick using 3D automatic motion tracking

Biography

Bjørn Harald Olstad is an assistant professor at the Norwegian School of Sport Sciences in Oslo. He is currently working towards his PhD: Muscle activation and kinematics in contemporary breaststroke swimming, containing surface electromyographic measurements and three dimensional motion in swimming. He holds a master’s degree on how to coach age-group swimmers for future success and was a former National team member in swimming and lifesaving. He previously worked for the United States Olympic Committee, United States Swimming and with several swim clubs as performance director and coach.

Synopsis

Today most competitive breaststrokers swim with a wave style technique using different amplitudes. Seifert et al. (2005) proposed a new index for arm- and leg coordination during flat BR. Today there is no specific index for the wave breaststroke (BR). The purpose of this study was to present a new way of measuring the phases during the BR wave kick allowing for a more careful study of technical aspects in each phase using 3D automatic motion tracking.