In the application of fundamental mechanics to human swimming three major approaches can be distinguished in the literature: • Kinematic analysis of swimming strokes, instantaneous speed, and so forth, (e.g., Bourgeois, 1983; Hoecke & Gruendler, 1975; Kent & Atha, 1975; Reischle, 1979) • Propulsive or resistive force analysis (e.g., Barthels, 1979; Oarys, 1979; Di Prampero, Pendergast, Wilson, & Rennie, 1974; Schleihauf, 1979; Ungerechts, 1979) • Analysis and simulations with the help ofbiomechanical models (e.g., Jensen & B}.anksby, 1975; Toussaint et al., 1983) In the application of modeling, swimming lags well behind land-based sports (Adrian, 1983). A reason for this might be that the external forces are difficult to measure (Plagenhoef. 1971). However, the same basic problemsexist in land-based sports where, just as in swimming, the opposing drag forces and push-off forces must be measured (Di Prampero, :Cortili, Mognoni, & Saibene, 1979; Hoes, Binkhorst, Smeekes-Kuyl, & Vissers, 1968; Ingen Schenau, Boer, & Groot, in press; Pugh, 1970; Williams & Cavanagh, 1983). So it is suprising that the application of fundamental mechanics in human swimming is still in its infancy compared with other sports, such as cross--country skiing, cycling, and speed skating. In contrast to these specifically human types of locomotion, swimming is an activity that is performed by other animals; the extensive and thorough literature on fish swimming is available to researchers on human swimming. The purpose of this contribution is to discuss some general aspects of modeling in endurance sports and to apply one approach deduced from !he literature on fish swimming to a problem that has so far been ignored m human swimming: the influence of swimming technique on efficiency.
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