INTRODUCTION: Several studies have investigated the drag force (Zamparo et al, 1996; Sheenan & Laughrin, 1992) in various forms, while others researched the lift force as another variable of producing propulsion in swimming. Aim: To review research based on the forces in swimming in an attempt to better understand the desirability of generating maximum forward lift force and minimum forward drag force on the body segments as the most efficient combination to be used for propelling the body. METHOD: A review of literature was employed for identifying the role of the `forces` in swimming. The terms "forces" and "swimming" were used as key words. More than 72 journal articles provided by electronic libraries (e.g., Sport Discus) and textbooks were available in the literature libraries. The selection process of references was based on the following criteria: articles referring to the influence of forces in swimming, review articles and other publi-cations, focusing on literature having origin from countries where swimming is well researched (e.g. USA, Australia). DISCUSSION: The internal and external forces acting on a human body and the effects produced by these forces (Hay, 1978), that were examined are described in figure 1. CONCLUSIONS: Significant correlations exist between selected anthropometric variables and drag of the ac-tively propelling swimmer. Future examination of the active drag needs to appreciate the individual biomechanical technique and the size of the examined sample. Body position changes influence resistance. Re-search needs to report to whom those results refer to (e.g. elite, non swimmers, etc), the estimated errors in their hydrodynamic data and the procedures used to reduce them. Computational Fluid Dynamics, can work as database of drag and lift coefficients for use in unsteady flow conditions for the evaluation and the im-provement of the technique. Swimming propulsion is the result of subtle and changing combinations of lifts and drag forces.
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