Great Swimmers Transcend Science

American swimmer Natalie Coughlin won her second straight gold medal in the 100 meter backstroke today, falling short of a world record by a mere fifth of a second.

Between these Olympics and the 2004 games in Athens, Coughlin has won three gold medals, a silver medal and a bronze medal. She's set two world records and several American records.

What's her secret? At some level, it's almost mystical: beyond the ability of experts in biomechanics and fluid dynamics to explain.

From a 2004 *New Yorker *profile, one which explains that no human-designed object swims as well as a fish, that simulating the motion of a swimmer is as computationally demanding as a model of galaxy formation, and that swimmers like Coughlin literally possess a "heightened physical perception of the water around the body":

One of the video clips that Mittal is currently feeding into his simulation program is of Natalie Coughlin, sinuous as a ribbon, underwater dolphin-kicking seventeen times in a row down the length of a pool. Should it ultimately prove useful as a training aid, one result of this research might be computer-calculated instructions for the mechanically perfect stroke, the one that science has determined will produce the lowest turbulence, the optimal arrangement of invisible eddies, the swiftest route through the water. But the things that a computer is least equipped to factor in-drive, vulnerability, the mysterious relationship between racer and water-are the things that Coughlin makes swimming people talk about. "It's like listening to Yo-Yo Ma," Boomer says.

As computer programs and processors become more powerful, scientists will someday be able to explain Natalie Coughlin and Michael Phelps. But for now, just enjoy them.

Image: Richseow

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