BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – An Indiana University professor is getting national attention as he believes there was a circular current in the Rio Olympic pool that may have benefited some swimmers and caused major problems for others.
The idea of the race is that each swimmer will have an equal chance at winning, but Joel Stager, director of the Counsilman Center For the Science of Swimming at Indiana University has a different point of view.
“We showed that there was an advantage being in lanes four, five, six and eight opposed to one,two,three,” said Stager.
Top-seeded swimmers take the center lanes four and five and they alternate toward the outside.
Stager said when looking at the men’s and women’s 50-meter swim, 15 out of 16 swimmers who qualified for the finals swam in lanes four through eight.
“Tenths of seconds when the races are being won by hundredths of seconds,” he said.
The IU professor believes the current could have impacted longer races but said there is no doubt all the medalists won with hard work.
For those who fell short, Stager said he’d like to know the disadvantage.
Stager also studied the numbers in the 2013 world championships and found similar findings in other competitions.
