Swimming

The 3rd International Holcim Awards for sustainable construction projects from across Europe were recently announced at a ceremony in Milan, with the German architectural firm realities:united taking first prize for its Flussbad proposal. Led by architect Tim Edler, Flussbad would transform a stretch of the River Spree in Berlin into a 745 meter (almost 0.5 mile) -long "swimming pool." That's about the size of 17 Olympic pools! It is hoped that the project will provide Berlin residents with a new way to use the city's historic center, whilst taking advantage of a currently unused section of Berlin's inner city river. Read More

Serious road cyclists tend to like using cycling computers (or "cyclometers") to provide them with performance data such as their speed, cadence, distance traveled and power output. Swimmers can also get their pruned-up hands on tech that makes keeping tabs on training sessions much easier and this example from Speedo will appeal to pool-goers for one reason in particular - it automatically counts laps. The Speedo Aquacoach watch uses technology developed by UK-based Swimovate to automatically detect the stroke and - along with counting laps - calculate distance, speed, number of strokes and calories burned. Read More

It's a hot summer day, you're sweaty and uncomfortable, and there's a river full of cool, clear water right beside you. Do you jump in? Not if you're in New York City, as the rivers that flow through that city are too polluted for swimming ... or at the very least, that's the perception that most people have of them. Three young entrepreneurs, however, have proposed a way of getting New Yorkers into the Hudson, East and/or Bronx Rivers. It's called the +Pool (Plus Pool) – a public swimming pool that would float in the river, allowing people to swim in filtered river water. Read More

Children like sharks. They also tend to be pretty big fans of whales, along with just about anything else that swims in the ocean. Given this fact, Opa Cove’s Sea Squirt is actually a pretty clever idea – it’s a neoprene life vest for kids that doubles as a sea creature costume, complete with a flexible dorsal fin on the back. Not only might it cause the rug rats to actually want to wear a flotation device, but adults can pluck them out of harm’s way simply by grabbing the vest’s fin and neck opening. Read More

Some view the development of swimsuits that help athletes to go faster as a natural evolution of the sport, but others believe that training and technique should be the deciding factor that separates winners from losers. After seeing numerous world records get smashed by suited up swimmers, the sport's governing body decided to side with the latter camp and put the brakes on the high tech sportswear. The Corsuit however, is not designed to be worn during competition, and its inventor believes it could help swimmers to achieve natural speed advantages without breaking any rules. Read More

Joggers and cyclists have all kinds of technological wizardry at their fingertips – or wrists – to let them no how they’re performing. Now there’s an easy way for swimmers to keep track of their aquatic exertions in the form of the Swimsense from FINIS. This watch-sized device is worn on the wrist and uses motion sensing technology to automatically detect and record the number of laps swum, total distance, calories burned, lap time, pace, and stroke count... it can even differentiate between backstroke, breaststroke, freestyle and butterfly. Read More

Hydrofloors are vertically movable floors that mean you’ll literally be able to walk on water. Designed to reclaim the surface area of a swimming pool that is wasted when the pool is not in use, the floor height of the pool can be lowered mechanically to reveal the already full pool or raised to cover the water and provide some extra floor space. Read More

Swimwear fashion has progressed steadily over the past 100 or so years (if you discount Borat’s mankini). Design has moved from neck-to-knees woolen garments that women were encouraged to bathe in at the beach, to men’s Speedos, to skimpy Brazilian thongs, to Daniel Craig’s James Bond swimmer boxer trunks, to full body racing ‘buoyancy’ suits for Olympians. Who could forget screen sirens Esther Williams, Jane Mansfield and Marilyn Monroe posing in their swimsuits? To celebrate Australia’s contribution to the swimwear industry – in design and materials – a comprehensive exhibition titled "Exposed! The story of swimwear" is traversing that country, appearing at State museums. Read More

Although fish numbers are in decline in oceans all around the globe, the same can’t be said for their robotic brethren. Like the “Robotuna” from MIT and the robots developed by a team at the University of Essex, the latest robotic fish from Michigan State University also take inspiration from nature. The aim is to give researchers more precise data on aquatic conditions and provide a deeper understanding of critical water supplies and habitats... and hopefully help improve the outlook for fish of the biological variety. Read More