News
COMPUTERS and water seem an unlikely combination but they're achieving dramatic results for Galston Swimming Club.
Coaches Nick Childs and Eric Lobbes said that since they started using Dartfish software with underwater cameras they had helped their charges to alter their swimming style and improve their times by up to five per cent.
Lobbes said Dartfish was arguably the world's premiere video review software.
"People would recognise Dartfish from Channel 9's coverage of the cricket," he said.
"The three-ball tracker is one such function of the software."
He said the equipment allowed coaches to identify imperfections or subtle nuances which they would like to change in their swimmers' strokes.
He said Dartfish was popular in American collegiate swimming programs.
"This software has allowed us to indulge in both Nick's and my own passion in sport science," he said.
Lobbes said they could view the footage frame by frame, at varying degrees of slower speeds, allowing them to measure stroke length, hand velocity, joint angles and more.
He said this gave a comprehensive picture of how swimmers were performing.
"Swimmers can be coached live on the pool deck, they can download videos via email or have the footage burned to a DVD," Lobbes said.
"We can directly compare our swimmers to an Olympian or world record holder.
"It's very exciting for the kids to compare their strokes to their heroes.
"We want to make this equipment publicly available for a small fee, of course."
For more information call club president Michael Owen on 0425 363 239.