Twenty meter blind swimming: a test of underwater work symmetry

ABSTRACT

The mechanical movements by swimmers were investigated to determine the amount of deviation that occured due to asymmetric limb forces. Five Bahraini National Junior Swimming Team members swam 20 metres wearing opaque goggles and the same distance wearing ordinary goggles. The mean deviation distance was 0.775 m. The correlation between deviation distance and best time over 50 metres was R = 0.95 [P < 0.01], suggesting that the test is a valid predictor for asymmetric forces. The results revealed that there were hidden forces causing a loss of energy and efficiency