The effects of breathing on hip roll asymmetry in competitive front crawl swimming

Biography

Mike Barber was a graduate student at the University of Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada.

Synopsis

Front crawl swimming is a cyclic activity in which swimmers alternate arm and leg movements to create propulsive forces while the body rotates about its longitudinal axis. It has been suggested that breathing increases body rotation and potentially disrupts the symmetry of the stroke (Psycharakis & Sanders, 2010). Inertial sensors are an emerging and accessible technology for quantifying movement in aquatic environments (Bachlin & Troster, 2011). This study quantified the effect of breathing on hip roll angle using a body-fixed (lower back at L3) tri-axial accelerometer.