What could we measure in water sports?
Measuring forces in the aquatic environment is not an easy task: there are still controversies in the literature on how to determine resistive forces (active drag) and the (propulsive) force that can be exerted in water is only a fraction of the total force an athlete can generate (this fraction being called propelling efficiency, also difficult to determine). Data derived from wearable sensors allow to quantify kinematic variables useful to evaluate the athlete’s technical skills and to infer the effects of the forces at play but estimating kinetic data from these sensors is, to date, still infeasible.
Paola Zamparo - Biosketch
Paola Zamparo graduated in Biology at the University of Trieste and worked for about 20 years in the field of Exercise Physiology at the University of Udine. She then moved to the University of Verona where she is currently full professor in Biomechanics. Since her PhD studies (at Manchester Metropolitan University, UK) her main filed of interest is the interplay between the biomechanics and energetics of human locomotion: i. e. how the mechanical determinants of cyclic sports activities (such as cycling, swimming and running) influence their physiological responses.