Abstract

This volume contains the presentations of the Vth International Symposium of Biomechanics and Medicine in Swimming held in Bielefeld, Federal Republic of Germany from July 27 to 31, 1986. The Bielefeld symposium was a continuation of the series of swimming conferences, Biomechanics in Swimming. An attempt was made to include the medical and physiological aspects of swimming that were initiated at the Amsterdam symposium in 1982. This combination revealed a need for joint experimental approaches for the overall advancement of swimming, as well as a need for interdisciplinary research. The topics and quality of the contributions are continuations of the foundation provided by the former congresses, which demonstrated the status of research and in turn challenged researchers to solve unanswered questions. After 16 years of swimming research, some trends can be recognized. There is a tendency to replace the descriptive analysis of swimming movements with a hydrodynamic analysis to provide a better understanding of the structure of acting forces. Different methods have been employed in the calculation of forces using an integrative model based on theoretical and empirical data or measuring forces directly during free swimming. In combination with physiological data, these methods provide greater scientific information concerning the effectiveness of swimming in general and of individual techniques. Perhaps this trend will considerably influence future methods utilized in teaching and training for swimming. Preface