News and events

Current news

Much knowledge has been disseminated through publicity. This has further enhanced the international reputation and impact of CARE and its activities.

Swimming scientist and coach of the Japanese national water polo team joins CARE till January 2013

For 5 months Professor Hideki Takagi from the University of Tsukuba will discuss and share knowledge with all of the CARE members. The director of the CARE team, Prof. Ross Sanders, our high-quality facilities and the team of PhD students were reasons for him to cross oceans to expand his research on the hydrodynamic aspects of swimming, specifically on the pressure distribution of hands and feet influencing the propulsion during front crawl and breaststroke.

Prof Sanders to Visit Tsukuba

“In Bruges” Featuring Georgios, Tomohiro and Marlies

PhD students Georgios Machtsiras, Tomohiro Gonjo and Marlies Declerck presented part of their aquatic research at the annual Congress of the European College of Sport Science (ECSS) hosted in Bruges, Belgium in July 2012. The conference attracts leading sport and human movement scientists from all over the world.

Georgios presented in “A comparison of elliptical zone and 3D scanning calculating methods of estimating swimmer’s body segment volumes” the progress of the CARE team’s work on the e-zone project. Marlies’s poster “The effectiveness of swimming for breaking the vicious cycle of deconditioning in Cerebral Palsy” highlighted some of the results of her data collection performed in Belgium. Tomohiro presented a poster of his work done during his masters in Japan “The effect of swimsuit elasticity to muscle output - pilot work for new swimsuit production”.

Abstracts of Marlies, Georgios and Tomohiro can be seen at pages 107, 462 and 634 of following document:

ECSS Book of Abstracts

Prof Sanders to Visit Tsukuba

The University of Tsukuba has invited Professor Ross Sanders to visit in May. Prof Sanders will present talks to the staff and PhD students as well as discuss opportunities for collaboration with Professor Hideki Takagi, a well known swimming scientist and coach of the Japanese national Water polo team.

Professor Joao Paulo Vilas-Boas Wows Swimming Coaches and Swimmers

Professor Joao Paulo Vilas Boas' lecture on 'Swimming Science: An Overview of Porto Efforts during the 21st Century' amazed the audience with the variety of research questions being addressed and the 'high tech' approaches used at the University of Oporto. The audience comprised some of Scotland's leading coaches and teachers including Ian Wright, Chris Jones, and Win Hayes.

New EMG Methods Showcased at the BIG Conference

Jacki Thow's poster entitled 'WIRELESS MONITORING OF MUSCLE ACTIVITY IN AQUATIC ENVIRONMENTS' was presented by Tomohiro Gonjo at the British Biomechanics Interest Group Conference hosted by the University of Ulster on April 4th 2012. Jacki's poster, coauthored by Nuno Olivier, Ingi Einarsson, and Ross Sanders, made a strong impression as a 'state of the art' wireless EMG technology being used to help elite Scottish swimmers as part of the Sportscotland funded project on 'asymmetry in swimming'. Jacki's paper may be seen on page 37 of the BIG proceedings on line at:

BIG Proceedings Ulster

Chuang-Yuan Wins Scholarship from Taiwan Government

Congratulations to Chuang-Yuan Chiu who has just been awarded a scholarship from the Taiwan Ministry of Education 'Government Scholarship for Study Abroad' to complete his PhD. Yuan's project is 'An Image-Based Analysis System for Individual Body Segment Parameters'. This will further develop CARE's ability to create accurate models of the human body to be used when analysing the performance of swimmers.

New Member of the CARE team

Scott Pollock, currently a strength and conditioning coach at the Sports Institute of Northern Ireland has joined the CARE team. Scott will be completing a PhD (part time) with Prof Ross Sanders and Dr Carla McCabe as his academic mentors.