high performance - The Schulich School of Engineering - University ...

Johnston and Maw’s pads have alreadybeen adopted by the world’s top speedskating (short and long track) rinksincluding Salt Lake City, Beijing, Vancouverand of course U of C’s Olympic Oval. So far,as they say, ‘no news is good news.’“We’re very encouraged,” says Maw.“For example a couple of years ago at theshort track World Cup in Salt Lake theyhad several bad crashes and several fairlysevere injuries. At the last World Cup, afterinstalling our pad system, they didn’t havea single injury from crashes, so anecdotallyat least the system seems to be working.”The big question, of course is how the twowill feel if nobody is injured in Vancouverthis February? “Relief!” They say in unison,“We’ll be very, very relieved.”Darren Stefanyshyn is one of those guyswho doesn’t have a lot of stuff in hisspartan office, so you tend to pay attentionto what he does have. Shoes. Many shoes.By his own admission Stefanyshyn is agear-freak who you never want to take toSport Chek, since he says he can spendhours in a sporting goods store. “I like tosee how things work,” he says, “and I like tothink of ways to make them better.”Stefanyshyn is cross-appointed withthe Schulich School of Engineering andthe Faculty of Kinesiology where he cancombine his passions on a seeminglyendless variety of sports-related researchprojects including hockey sticks, golf clubs,bike seats, work boots, clap skates, shoes –lots and lots of shoes – and most recentlythe Adidas Powerweb suit.If you watched the last winter and summerOlympic games on television, then youlikely saw the Powerweb suit in action.Cross country skiers wore them, sprinterswore them, track athletes wore them … infact it seemed the only people who weren’twearing them were the swimmers whohad their own ‘suit’ controversy goingon. The Powerweb suit kind of resemblesa superhero outfit, and according toStefanyshyn, testing at Kinesiology’sHuman Performance Lab suggest that thePowerweb suit could indeed make athletesa little more ‘super’ in competition.“The tests indicate that athletes wearingthe suit had an average 5.3 percentimprovement in power output and were1.1 percent faster over a 30 metre sprint,”says Stefanyshyn. “For you or me that’sobviously not a big deal, but for manysports, where world records hang onfractions of a second, that one percentadvantage could be huge.”Perhaps the most interesting thing aboutthe suit is that no one is completely sureabout exactly why it works. As he explainsit, “We have several theories and we believeit’s likely a combination of several factors.”A biomechanical theory is that the suit actskind of like a sausage skin, compressing theathlete’s muscles. This compression keepsthe athlete’s body properly aligned andensures that they are moving in an optimalpath to maximize performance. It alsomakes them more aware and focused onmuscle movement. Another theory is thatthe springy special material that makesup the silver Powerweb bands, recoils and‘returns’ energy to the athlete. A thirdtheory that Benno Nigg, director of theHuman Performance Lab, is testing is thatthe suit helps to dampen muscle vibration.Nigg believes that the body tries to offsetmuscle vibration by tensing muscles. Hebelieves this constant low grade musclecontraction can lead to fatigue so if youreduce vibration you theoretically couldimprove performance.Regardless of exactly how the suit works,it’s clear that many athletes who have triedthe suit like it. “I really do get a kick outof watching the games and seeing athletesperform in something that I’ve been a partof designing,” says Stefanyshyn. “In someways you kind of feel like a parent, andwhen you see an athlete excelling, and youknow that you’ve had a small part in theirsuccess you can’t help but feel excited.”Stefanyshyn says that while the Powerwebsuit can help athletes to do their best, itcertainly doesn’t provide the same artificialadvantage of a suit like Speedo’s LZRswimsuit. The LZR suit featured buoyantpolyurethane material that has helpedswimmers make a mockery of swimmingworld-records. “I don’t really think the suitgives an athlete an artificial performanceboost, and I certainly don’t think it’sunethical,” says Stefanyshyn. “The suitdoes help an athlete to optimize theirperformance, but since any serious athletewho wants to wear the suit can wear it, youcan’t really argue that it provides an unfairadvantage for anyone, it’s just another toolto help athletes optimize performance.”In the end that’s what the Schulich teamhopes they can provide Canadian athletesthis February in Vancouver – the very bestchance of performing to the limits of theirability, on the world’s biggest stage. If theycan do that, Schulich engineers can take alittle satisfaction in knowing that they tooplayed their part.Don McSwiney is the director ofcommunications for the Faculty of Kinesiologyat the University of Calgary.Sean Maw, left, and Clifton Johnstondesigned the crash pads for the 2010 Olympicsto help prevent speed skating injuries.Photo by David MollSCHULICH16 ENGINEERSCHULICH 17 ENGINEER