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Swimsuit Design Uses Supercomputing

Posted by ScuttleMonkey on Sun Jul 09, 2006 08:35 PM
from the go-with-the-flow dept.
Supercomputing Science
Roland Piquepaille writes "These days, most competitive swimmers wear some type of body suit to reduce high skin-friction drag from water. And makers of swimwear are already busy working on new models for the Olympics 2008. According to Textile & Apparel, Speedo is even using a supercomputer to refine its designs. Its engineers run Fluent Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) program on an SGI Altix system."
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  • Roland Piquepaille & Speedo (Score:5, Funny)

    by StikyPad (445176) on Sunday July 09 2006, @08:39PM (#15688556) Homepage
    Two words I never wanted to see in the same paragraph.

  • Nice to see (Score:5, Funny)

    by 0racle (667029) on Sunday July 09 2006, @08:40PM (#15688559)
    It's nice to see SGI working on winning gold medals in Swimming. They just need to find out how to get rid of the meat bag causing all that drag on their wonderfully designed swimsuits.

    • Re:Nice to see (Score:5, Interesting)

      by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 09 2006, @08:57PM (#15688605)
      You laugh, but when I made it to the olympic time trials for swimming in '04, I found out that many swimmers do in fact adjust their member to minimize drag.

      Posting anonymously to avoid people realizing that my main account is associated with an actual *shudder* athlete. :)
      • I'm a meatbag, you insensitive clod.

      • Re:Nice to see (Score:5, Funny)

        by akorvemaker (617072) on Sunday July 09 2006, @10:00PM (#15688791) Homepage
        At what point does "Informative" become "Too Much Information"?

        • Re:Nice to see (Score:5, Interesting)

          by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 09 2006, @11:56PM (#15689098)
          I know that I should not be ashamed of my efforts (and I say efforts for a reason) here, but at the same time, I do know that there is a lot of hatred towards any "jock type" figure here on Slashdot. I have seen discussions about athletics turn into a simple flame war about how "jocks" are stupid and that any type of sport is a waste of time.

          It's rather ironic, if you think about it. I like to consider Slashdot a rather liberal and progressive thinking body, but sometimes the opposite is true. It seems that, as a whole, Slashdot still believes in the mesomorph/ectomorph "theory" - as if muscles and intelligence/work ethic are mutually exclusive. Some members seem to ignore the fact that being an athlete makes life harder, not easier. It isn't as if being an athlete suddenly makes you stupid, or suddenly makes you popular, or suddenly lets you get through life with a free pass.

          I swim six days a week. Four of those days are two-a-days. That means I end up swimming six hours instead of only three. That does not include out-of-practice training, such as jogging and extra gym work. While most people are enjoying winter break, I (and many other student athletes) endure winter training. Instead of four two-a-days, we do six a week. Instead of going off to party during spring break, we go to a Mexican plateau for high altitude training. Instead of slacking off during the summer, I swim even more than during college practices. During the entire year, I have a one week break from swimming at the end of summer. Since you were a cross country runner, I am sure you had a similar training regimen.

          And what is all this for? Nothing, really. When I turn 23 and graduate from college, I'll probably never swim at a meet again. I didn't need it for college - I already had an academic scholarship. I certainly didn't do it to be "popular" - you don't have time to be. I have a passion, and that is swimming. When I made the cuts for two events at the the Olympic time trials, I was probably the happiest 19 year old on Earth. I knew I had no chance of actually making the Olympic team, mind you - but just being there, and swimming in the same pool as some of the greatest athletes alive will be a picture in my mind for the rest of my life. Three months ago, I injured my shoulder. The chances of me making the Olympic team in '08, or swimming after college, are all but gone, as I won't be able to train effectively for another 6-9 months as I recover from surgery. But I still go to practice each and every day, even if it's just to kick with fins for three hours. I just wish some people here could respect a passion for something other than what the fastast processor is, I guess, is what I'm trying to say. :)

  • Swimsuit Editions? (Score:5, Funny)

    by redphive (175243) on Sunday July 09 2006, @08:42PM (#15688563) Homepage
    Does this mean Computer magazines are going to start having yearly swimsuit editions? This could be a good and a bad thing.

  • Ahh, the differences between men and women (Score:5, Funny)

    by alshithead (981606) * on Sunday July 09 2006, @08:42PM (#15688565)
    "Meanwhile, the CFD analysis has already indicated that there is a more separated flow, where the water actually leaves the surface of the swimmer, for females than males, so the designs for male and female suits should be different."

    Translation: Boobs and hips create additional drag. Make the suits tighter in the chest and hips for women.

  • Bah (Score:2, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward
    What they need to do is use this computing power to find a way to make competitive swimsuits actually look good on women, instead of hiding all of the good stuff.

  • childhood limerick... (Score:4, Funny)

    by lanced (795958) on Sunday July 09 2006, @09:00PM (#15688614)
    That reminds me of an old limerick. Sing along if you know it...

    Taco,
    Burrito,
    What's that in your Speedo?

    But in this case, it should be...
    Jobs,
    or Gates,
    Who designed your Speedo?

    Maybe it doesn't rhyme, but now all of you are thinking of Bill Gates in a thong. Ha.

  • Womens... (Score:5, Funny)

    by ResQuad (243184) * <slashdotNO@SPAMkonsoletek.com> on Sunday July 09 2006, @09:07PM (#15688630) Homepage
    Obviously in womens olypic competition they should ban swimsuits all together. Not only would that level the playing field... viewership would SKY ROCKET!!! 10x at least!

  • hmmm (Score:3, Funny)

    by dpaton.net (199423) on Sunday July 09 2006, @09:11PM (#15688641) Homepage Journal
    There's a joke in here somewhere....mumble mumble Cindy Crawford mumble mumble Beowolf cluster mumble mumble Sports Illustrated mumble mumble.

    I'm going to karma hell. I don't mind.
  • Okay, I can see needing a supercomputer for designing Pam Anderson's bra, but not for swimsuits...
  • Am I the only one that read that as `Swimsuit Competition uses Supercomputer`?

  • Ask God (Score:2, Interesting)

    by Anonymous Coward
    Does Turbulence [wikipedia.org] come into play? And does it bring all it's mythical and apocraphal baggage with it?

    "According to an apocryphal story, Werner Heisenberg was asked what he would ask God, given the opportunity. His reply was: "When I meet God, I am going to ask him two questions: Why relativity? And why turbulence? I really believe he will have an answer for the first." A similar witticism has been attributed to Horace Lamb (who had published a noted text book on Hydrodynamics)--his choice being quantum mecha

  • Olympics should be about the athletes (Score:5, Insightful)

    by KermodeBear (738243) on Sunday July 09 2006, @09:20PM (#15688664) Homepage
    The Olympics should be about being the best athlete - not who can squeeze out a few fractions of a second because they have better/more expensive swimware. I don't mind using technology for training and conditioning, but in the field (or in this case, the pool) the equipment one has shouldn't be the deciding factor.
    • The Olympics should be about being the best athlete

      Actually no! The olympics should be about having fun. That's why it's called the Olympic games. But that was a long time ago, these days it's a race of sponsors, tv-rights, doping and winning the gold medal. The old idea of free amateurs competing together as a symbolic gesture of peace between nations somehow got forgotten somewhere.

    • Hmm, the "equipment" is a factor in many, many events.
      • Are you going to standardize all the skates for the speed skaters? Forget custom fitting then?
      • Ditto figure skaters.
      • How about skis on the downhill, standardizing there wouldn't be popular.
      • Snowboarders would revolt at the idea of boarding on the same stuff.
      • Bobsledders? Luge?
      • Going to make everyone run/jump in the same shoes?
      • Vault with the same poles, regardless of weight/height?

      These are just a few things off the top of my head. Being an athele

  • Who is this company? (Score:3, Funny)

    by TubeSteak (669689) on Sunday July 09 2006, @09:24PM (#15688678) Journal
    on an SGI Altix high-performance computing system offered by Silicone Technology.
    Silicon Graphics Inc's machines being offered by Silicone Technology?

    Is there actually a "Silicone Technology" company?
    Or did someone screw up their reporting?

  • I thought sports were about athletics, not equipment. How about everyone wears the same model swimsuit to even the playing field? Or is that too naive of me?

  • truly pathetic (Score:3, Interesting)

    by namekuseijin (604504) on Sunday July 09 2006, @09:28PM (#15688694)
    since athletes can't go further into record breaking all by themselves, let's start artificial methods of obtaining a few more milliseconds...

    when are we going to see genetically engineered super athletes?
      • And maybe continues today

        In early 2006, former Newsweek editor and author Brook Larmer released "Operation Yao Ming", a controversial book in which he claims that as a child Yao was forced against his will to play basketball by and for the Chinese government. In addition, Larmer alleges that Yao's father, 6-foot-10 (2.08 m) Yao Zhiyuan, and mother, 6-foot-2 (1.88 m) Fang Fengdi, both national team basketball players, were, on retirement, "encouraged" to wed, with the aim of producing an athletic if not al

  • technology overrated? (Score:5, Interesting)

    by fermion (181285) * on Sunday July 09 2006, @10:11PM (#15688817) Homepage Journal
    I wonder if for some sports, where equipment has never been the major thing, all this money spent on equipment is overrated. For example, Amercian football is significantly about the equipment, and if you can't afford good equipment you don't play professionally, but the other football is not so much about the equipment, and everyone has an good chance of competing, even if they are not rich.

    For example, it was reputed that the shark skin suits of the past couple olympics were the reasons for new world records, though I have not seem any anylsis that showed the more records were set. Putting the suits on olympics swimmers, often with compensation, seems more a marketing thing than a performance thing. All attire options are about the same, so why not choose the option that will bring in a little cash. It is good investment for the company as consumers will see the product, percieve value, and be more willing to pay the offered price.

    None of which proves the suit is a useful product. In fact when reading about the suits, the issue seems more about insuring the suit is not counterproductive rather than significantly improving on bare skin. In the past they have said things "like four percent impovement over the past model", and then cited all the deficiencies of the past model.

  • Swimmer's Experience (Score:3, Informative)

    by apharmdq (219181) on Monday July 10 2006, @01:31AM (#15689389)
    I'm a swimmer myself, and when I was younger I trained with the ordinary, plain-vanilla speedos. Lately, our coach has been encouraging the use of the more high-tech suit designs for competitions, so I got ahold of one of those "fastskin" suits that Speedo sells. Surprisingly enough, you can actually feel the difference. (And it shaved a second or two off my times as well.)

    So if Speedo is going through such great lengths to improve their suits, I wouldn't be surprised. I'm just impressed that a suit design can make such a big difference.

    Still, I'm a traditionalist. I don't need no newfangled swimsuits to win a competition! Skinnydipping forever!

  • Leaked Photo! (Score:5, Funny)

    by Dagmar d'Surreal (5939) on Monday July 10 2006, @05:13AM (#15689897) Journal
    GazetteNET has managed to get their hands on a leaked picture of the new recommended swimming helmet designed by the supercomputing software. Here's the photo. Looks pretty slick to me. :)

    http://www.gazettenet.com/business/02242003/14.jpg [gazettenet.com]
    • Hey! You almost used the term "niggardly" correctly. If you had not used a form of the word "slave" in the same sentence I'd almost be satisfied. I'll also be happy to have a portion of my tax money paid to any former US slave that is still alive. I'd even go as far as paying reparations to their children. Unfortunately for you, there is no one alive in the US who deserves reparations so I can't say the US is being niggardly. To be niggardly they would have to be denying something due.

    • Re:Disgusting. (Score:5, Insightful)

      by MobileTatsu-NJG (946591) on Sunday July 09 2006, @11:04PM (#15688943)
      "Why doesn't speedo put it's supercomputer time to some good use, like finding ways to end poverty or help more efficiently after natural disasters like tsunamis, earthquakes, terrorism or volcanic eruptions?"

      Unlike what TV and movies have told you, you cannot just type in "How do we end poverty?" into a super computer and just wait for it to respond.

      "In a world where the US is still being niggardly over paying slavery reparations, how can anyone find it acceptable to flagrantly waste resources in this way?"

      Some company had the money to spend and they spent it. 'Super-computers' aren't some rare Earth resource that can only be used by the elite. (In other words, we're not talking about Univac.) They're built when they're needed by the entities that have the money to pay for them. This is actually a Good Thing TM. Computers get better, prices come down, 'super' computing resources are used for a broader range of applications.

      On another note, I vote we end the "couldn't we spend our time curing cancer?" rationale that tends to earn karma around here. No, we cannot use an aeronautics engineer from Boeing to cure cancer. Open Source programmers cannot write drinkable water for third world countries. Ending consumerism in the United States won't feed the world. This planet thrives on diversity. Embrace it.

    • Re:Bah! (Score:5, Interesting)

      by Kadin2048 (468275) <slashdot@kadin.xoxy@net> on Sunday July 09 2006, @10:05PM (#15688808) Homepage Journal
      Not actually true. I'm sure that if you made the swimmers compete nude, instead of competing to see who could have the most high-tech swimsuit, the focus would switch to who could create the most high-tech water-repellent skin creme. Some sort of wax or silicone, perhaps, that lowered the water resistance below what was normal for human skin. Or maybe some sort of treatment that made the body produce more oil (or less oil -- I don't know if oily skin has less or more resistance through water).

      Anything that tries to stop technology and innovation from affecting a sport is inherently doomed to failure. A better approach would be to embrace innovation, in all sports, since this would have the effect of making the sports more interesting, and more relevant to society in general (by encouraging technological development, things would be produced that benefit everyone -- putting the focus on athleticism, while amusing to watch, doesn't produce any tangible benefit for the rest of us).

      However, I agree, nude sports would get much better television ratings. Find some way to justify nude beach volleyball, and you have yourself a winner.

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