Understanding the effects of training on underwater undulatory swimming performance and kinematics

Due to the difficulty of manipulating muscle activation in live, freely swimming fish, a thorough examination of the body kinematics, propulsive performance, and muscle activity patterns in fish during undulatory swimming motion has not been conducted. We propose to use soft robotic model animals as experimental platforms to address biomechanics questions and acquire understanding into subcarangiform fish swimming behavior. We extend previous research on a bio-inspired soft robotic fish equipped with two pneumatic actuators and soft strain sensors to investigate swimming performance in undulation frequencies between 0.3 and 0.7 Hz and flow rates ranging from 0 to 20 cms in a recirculating flow tank. We demonstrate the potential of eutectic gallium–indium (eGaIn) sensors to measure the lateral deflection of a robotic fish in real time, a controller that is able to keep a constant undulatory amplitude in varying flow conditions, as well as using Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) to characterizing swimming performance across a range of flow speeds and give a qualitative measurement of thrust force exerted by the physical platform without the need of externally attached force sensors. A detailed wake structure was then analyzed with Dynamic Mode Decomposition (DMD) to highlight different wave modes present in the robot’s swimming motion and provide insights into the efficiency of the robotic swimmer. In the future, we anticipate 3D-PIV with DMD serving as a global framework for comparing the performance of diverse bio-inspired swimming robots against a variety of swimming animals.

Download Full-text

Post-Eccentric Flywheel Underwater Undulatory Swimming Potentiation in Competitive Swimmers

Journal of Human Kinetics ◽

10.2478/hukin-2021-0068 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 79 (1) ◽

pp. 145-154

Author(s):

Esteban Crespo ◽

Jesús Juan Ruiz-Navarro ◽

Francisco Cuenca-Fernández ◽

Raúl Arellano

Keyword(s):

Test Performance ◽

Fiber Type ◽

Swimming Performance ◽

T Test ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Warm Up ◽

Time Frequency ◽

Males And Females ◽

Undulatory Swimming ◽

Competitive Swimmers

Abstract Underwater undulatory swimming (UUS) influences overall swimming performance, therefore swimmers should try to maximize it. This research aimed to: 1) assess the effects of an activation protocol based on post-activation performance enhancements upon UUS; and 2) evaluate the differences between males and females. Seventeen competitive swimmers (male = 10; female = 7) participated in a cross-sectional study designed to test performance in UUS at 10 m after a traditional swimming warm-up (TRA) and after adding to the TRA 4 maximal half-squat repetitions on an inertial flywheel device (PAPE). A speedometer and an electronic timing system were used to obtain kinematic variables such as time, frequency and velocity at 10-m, which were processed with MATLAB®. A paired sample t test was applied to determine the differences of the kinematic variables between the TRA and PAPE. An independent sample t test was used to determine the effects of the PAPE in males and females. Participants reduced the time to cover 10 m after PAPE compared to the TRA (males: 5.77 ± 0.44 to 5.64 ± 0.46; females 6.34 ± 0.80 to 6.09 ± 0.66; p < 0.05). In addition, trends towards improvements in UUS velocity were obtained for males and females. However, push-off velocity and frequency showed a different tendency between genders (p < 0.05). In conclusion, the warm-up including repetitions on the flywheel device improved UUS performance. Some differences were obtained between genders after PAPE. Further research should confirm if the benefits obtained after the eccentric overload would depend either on gender or on other components such as fiber type composition.

Download Full-text

Undulatory and oscillatory swimming

Journal of Fluid Mechanics ◽

10.1017/jfm.2019.284 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 874 ◽

Cited By ~ 17

Author(s):

Alexander J. Smits

Keyword(s):

High Performance ◽

Swimming Performance ◽

Added Mass ◽

Viscous Effects ◽

Lateral Velocity ◽

Great Insight ◽

Velocity Scale ◽

The Difference ◽

Undulatory Swimming ◽

Insight Into

Theory and modelling remain central to improving our understanding of undulatory and oscillatory swimming. Simple models based on added mass can help to give great insight into the mechanics of undulatory swimming, as demonstrated by animals such as eels, stingrays and knifefish. To understand the swimming of oscillatory swimmers such as tuna and dolphins, models need to consider both added mass forces and circulatory forces. For all types of swimming, experiments and theory agree that the most important velocity scale is the characteristic lateral velocity of the tail motion rather than the swimming speed, which erases to a large extent the difference between results obtained in a tethered mode, compared to those obtained using a free swimming condition. There is no one-to-one connection between the integrated swimming performance and the details of the wake structure, in that similar levels of efficiency can occur with very different wake structures. Flexibility and viscous effects play crucial roles in determining the efficiency, and for isolated propulsors changing the profile shape can significantly improve both thrust and efficiency. Also, combined heave and pitch motions with an appropriate phase difference are essential to achieve high performance. Reducing the aspect ratio will always reduce thrust and efficiency, but its effects are now reasonably well understood. Planform shape can have an important mitigating influence, as do non-sinusoidal gaits and intermittent actuation.

Download Full-text

The physiology and mechanics of undulatory swimming: a student laboratory exercise using medicinal leeches

AJP Advances in Physiology Education ◽

10.1152/advan.00033.2009 ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 33 (3) ◽

pp. 213-220 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

David J. Ellerby

Keyword(s):

Swimming Performance ◽

Muscle Mechanics ◽

Swimming Behavior ◽

Volume Increase ◽

Laboratory Exercise ◽

Specialized Equipment ◽

Student Laboratory ◽

Undulatory Swimming ◽

Medicinal Leeches ◽

Osmotic Load

The medicinal leech is a useful animal model for investigating undulatory swimming in the classroom. Unlike many swimming organisms, its swimming performance can be quantified without specialized equipment. A large blood meal alters swimming behavior in a way that can be used to generate a discussion of the hydrodynamics of swimming, muscle mechanics, hydrostatic skeletons, and the physiological features that allow leeches to deal with the volume increase and osmotic load imposed by the meal. Analyses can be carried out at a range of levels tailored to suit a particular class.

Download Full-text

Effects of temperature on larval fish swimming performance: the importance of physics to physiology

Journal of Fish Biology ◽

10.1016/s0022-1112(02)92118-5 ◽

2002 ◽

Vol 0 ◽

Author(s):

I Hunt von Herbing

Keyword(s):

Larval Fish ◽

Swimming Performance ◽

Fish Swimming ◽

Effects Of Temperature

Download Full-text

Analysis of Correlations between Swimming Performance and the Inspiratory Muscle Capacity

Korean Journal of Sports Science ◽

10.35159/kjss.2020.10.29.5.1361 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 29 (5) ◽

pp. 1361-1371

Author(s):

Kwang-Myong Kim ◽

Hyun-Ju Kim ◽

Jong-Hwan Choi

Keyword(s):

Swimming Performance ◽

Inspiratory Muscle

Download Full-text

Impaired Swimming Performance of Acid-exposed Arctic Charr, Salvelinus Alpinus L.

Water Quality Research Journal ◽

10.2166/wqrj.1988.021 ◽

1988 ◽

Vol 23 (2) ◽

pp. 301-307 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

L.A. Hunter ◽

E. Scherer

Keyword(s):

Dose Response ◽

Salvelinus Alpinus ◽

Arctic Charr ◽

Swimming Performance ◽

Control Level ◽

Ventilation Rates

Abstract Arctic charr (Salvelinus alpinus L.) were exposed to five levels of acidity between pH 6 and pH 3.8. Swimming performance as determined by critical swimming speeds was 67.5 cm · sࢤ1 or 4.4 body lengths per second for untreated fish (pH 7.8). Performance declined sharply below pH 4.5; at pH 3.8 it was reduced by 35% after 7 days of exposure. Tailbeat frequencies and ventilation rates showed no dose-response effects. At swimming speeds between 20 and 50 cm · sࢤ1, ventilation rates at all levels of acidity were higher than at the control level.

Download Full-text

Acute Toxicity Testing with Juvenile White Sturgeon (Acipenser transmontanus)

Water Quality Research Journal ◽

10.2166/wqrj.1998.006 ◽

1998 ◽

Vol 33 (1) ◽

pp. 95-110 ◽

Cited By ~ 8

Author(s):

W.R. Bennett ◽

A.P. Farrell

Keyword(s):

Acute Toxicity ◽

Swimming Performance ◽

Juvenile Fish ◽

Toxicity Testing ◽

White Sturgeon ◽

Acipenser Transmontanus ◽

Toxicity Tests ◽

Fraser River ◽

Acute Toxicity Tests ◽

Acute Toxicity Testing

Abstract The primary goal of this study was to investigate the possibility of using early life stages of white sturgeon (Acipenser transmontanus) (eggs, larvae and fry) as a species relevant to the Fraser River, B.C., for the acute and sublethal toxico-logical testing of forest industry effluents. Here we report the first successful acute toxicity tests for 8-day-old larvae and 42-day-old fry exposed to several chemicals known to be released into the Fraser River (i.e., 6 monochlorovanillin [6 MVAN], 4,5 dichloroguaiacol [4,5 DCG], 4,5 dichlorocatechol [4,5 DCAT], pentachlorophenol [PCP], and didecyldimethylammonium chloride [DDAC]). In most cases, white sturgeon fry were at the lower end of the range for acute toxicity values for chlorinated phenolic compounds, when compared with other juvenile fish species, and they were extremely sensitive to DDAC. The larval stage was usually more sensitive than the fry stage. Acute toxicity tests with fertilized eggs were unsuccessful. A postexposure growth study was inconclusive because neither control nor toxicant-exposed larvae and fry withstood the additional handling used for measuring body mass. At 62-days-old, fry were more tolerant of handling. This allowed measurement of their swimming performance. Although we have concerns about the reliability of using larvae for acute toxicity testing at this time, 60-day-old white sturgeon fry would appear to be both a sensitive and relevant species for assessing environmental impacts relevant to the Fraser River.

Download Full-text

Swimming Performance and Metabolism of Cultured Golden Shiners

North American Journal of Aquaculture ◽

10.1577/a07-079.1 ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 71 (1) ◽

pp. 59-63 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Rachel V. Beecham ◽

Philip R. Pearson ◽

Susan B. LaBarre ◽

C. Douglas Minchew

Keyword(s):

Swimming Performance ◽

Golden Shiners

Download Full-text