The 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro are just over a week away; teams are set, and athletes are wrapping up their training. If Team USA swimmers do well in the games, it may be in part due to BMW—and not just for providing vehicles to get them around.
BMW has been the official mobility partner of the U.S. Olympic Committee for the past six years. That relationship resulted in the U.S. team winning its first Olympic medal in two-man bobsledding in 62 years at the Sochi Winter Olympics. That made sense, since BMW makes machines that go fast. BMW is also providing Team USA Paralympic athletes with specially designed carbon-fiber racing wheelchairs for the 2016 paralympic games later this summer.
For the upcoming Rio Olympic games, the athletes—specifically, Team USA swimmers—will not be competing using BMW-developed machinery; just their own bodies. However, BMW technology helped train those bodies, so it will be very interesting to see the results.
To help prepare the U.S. swimmers, BMW Group’s Designworks provided what it calls its “taillight” solution. Light-emitting diodes (LEDs), like those in BMW vehicle taillights, were mounted on swimmers’ wrists, shoulders, ankles, hips, knees, and toes during their training sessions. The illuminated LEDs marked their paths underwater and an underwater camera connected to a motion-tracking system recorded the action for analysis, movement by movement. Coaches could pinpoint limb and joint angles with qualitative feedback.
As reported by TechCrunch.com, BMW Group Designworks director Peter Falt said that the system would “hold up to the intense forces of Olympic swimmers,” but would not affect the swimmer’s movements at all.
Russell Mark, USA Swimming’s National Team performance consultant explained in more detail, saying, “The goal is that by comparing measurements to performance over time, we can use BMW’s motion-tracking tool to hone in on technique adjustments that work best for each individual swimmer.”
This is not BMW’s first foray into assisting Team USA swimmers. A first-generation motion-tracking system, without LEDs, was used to train for the 2012 Olympics, in which Team USA swimmers took home sixteen gold medals.
BMW’s LED taillights look great. More Team USA gold medals in swimming will look pretty great also.—Scott Blazey
[Photos courtesy of TechCrunch and USASwimming.]
