caa a22 4500 467941130 CHVBK 20180406153013.0 cr unu---uuuuu 170328e20060301xx s 000 0 eng 10.1007/s00421-005-0075-7 doi (NATIONALLICENCE)springer-10.1007/s00421-005-0075-7 Economy and efficiency of swimming at the surface with fins of different size and stiffness [Elektronische Daten] [Paola Zamparo, David Pendergast, Albert Termin, Alberto Minetti] The aim of this study was to investigate how fins with varying physical characteristics affect the energy cost and the efficiency of aquatic locomotion. Experiments were performed on ten college swimmers who were asked to swim the dolphin kick while using a monofin (MF) and to swim the front crawl kick with a small-flexible fin (SF), a large-stiff fin (LS) and without fins (BF, barefoot). The energy expended to cover one unit distance (C) was highest for BF (C=10.6±1.8kJm−1kg−1 at 0.8ms−1) and decreased by about 50% with LS, 55% with SF and 60% with MF, allowing for an increase in speed (for a given metabolic power) of about 0.4ms−1 for MF and of about 0.2ms−1 for SF and LS (compared with BF). At any given speed, the fins for which C was lower were those with the lowest kick frequency (KF): KF=1.6±0.22Hz at 0.8ms−1 (for BF) and decreased by about 40% for SF, 50% for LS and 60% for MF. The decrease in KF from BF to SF-LS and MF was essentially due to the increasing surface area of the fin which, in turn, was associated with a higher Froude efficiency (ηF). ηF was calculated by computing the speed of the bending waves moving along the body in a caudal direction (as proposed for the undulating movements of slender fish): it increased from 0.62±0.01 in BF to 0.66±0.03 in SF and 0.67±0.04 in LS reaching the highest values (0.76±0.05) with MF. No single fin characteristic can predict a swimmer's performance, rather the better fin (i.e. MF) is the one that is able to reduce most KF at any given speed and hence to produce the greatest distance per kick (d=v/KF). The latter indeed increased from 0.50±0.01m in BF to about 0.90±0.05m in SF and LS and reached values of 1.22±0.01m in MF. Springer-Verlag, 2005 Fin swimming nationallicence Propelling efficiency nationallicence Kick frequency nationallicence Energy balance nationallicence Zamparo Paola Dipartimento di Scienze e Tecnologie Biomediche, Università degli Studi di Udine, P. le Kolbe 4, 33100, Udine, Italy aut Pendergast David Department of Physiology, University of Buffalo, 124 Sherman Hall, 14214, Buffalo, NY, USA aut Termin Albert Department of Athletics, University of Buffalo, 14214, Buffalo, NY, USA aut Minetti Alberto Institute for Biophysical and Clinical Research into Human Movement, Manchester Metropolitan University - Cheshire, Hassall road, ST7 2HL, Alsager, UK aut European Journal of Applied Physiology Springer-Verlag 96/4(2006-03-01), 459-470 1439-6319 96:4<459 2006 96 421 https://doi.org/10.1007/s00421-005-0075-7 text/html Onlinezugriff via DOI 1 research-article jats NATIONALLICENCE 856 40 https://doi.org/10.1007/s00421-005-0075-7 text/html Onlinezugriff via DOI NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Zamparo Paola Dipartimento di Scienze e Tecnologie Biomediche, Università degli Studi di Udine, P. le Kolbe 4, 33100, Udine, Italy aut NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Pendergast David Department of Physiology, University of Buffalo, 124 Sherman Hall, 14214, Buffalo, NY, USA aut NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Termin Albert Department of Athletics, University of Buffalo, 14214, Buffalo, NY, USA aut NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Minetti Alberto Institute for Biophysical and Clinical Research into Human Movement, Manchester Metropolitan University - Cheshire, Hassall road, ST7 2HL, Alsager, UK aut NATIONALLICENCE 773 0- European Journal of Applied Physiology Springer-Verlag 96/4(2006-03-01), 459-470 1439-6319 96:4<459 2006 96 421 Metadata rights reserved Springer special CC-BY-NC licence nationallicence BK010053 XK010053 XK010000 NATIONALLICENCE NATIONALLICENCE NL-springer