The Science of High Performance

Typically, Beijing summer days typically dawn around 20° C. But afternoon temperatures commonly soar to a baking 35° C. High humidity often makes it seem even hotter.

Add to the heat, regardless of what pollution controls are in place for the Games, in an inland city of more than 17 million, with three million cars, the odds of smog are high.

Such demanding conditions can't be changed. But our preparation can be. The New Zealand team is taking over 156 full boxes containing over 4,000 items of "acclimatisation gear" alone to Beijing. Everything from scientifically formulated drink mixes, ice vests, plunge pools, carbon masks, and ionisers is being specially flown in for the Games.

Richard Young, SPARC's Performance Consultant of Technical Development has been part of the Beijing Acclimatisation Group, which has seen representatives from 14 sports, SPARC, the Beijing 2008 Chef de Mission and Olympic Team Coordinator, meet regularly since late 2006. Initiated as a joint partnership by the New Zealand Olympic Committee, the group has shared strategies and knowledge, and worked on projects to target specific challenges posed by Beijing's climate and environment.

Mr Young says "The difference between winning gold and bronze is a fraction of a percent. You want to cover off every detail that might give the athletes an edge. Afterwards, it might be hard to identify what it was that made the difference – but the whole picture adds up".

"A good example is the development of special sports drinks. Scientists from the University of Otago and Auckland University of Technology worked with the Beijing Acclimatisation Group, along with athletes and coaches to formulate unique drink mixes - for before, during and after training and competition".

The reason the group didn't go with off-the-shelf hydration was because the sweat response in Beijing will be extreme. Our specially developed drinks include ingredients to help the body to store water. Hydration also needs are different for different sports. We have different formulations to match the sport intensity and duration" says Young.

"We'll be using the same formulations for the Delhi Commonwealth Games," he adds.

To assist with athlete acclimatisation, the team has New Zealand-made ice vests, which can be donned immediately after, and between, events, helping to quickly bring down core body temperature. Special "Plunge Pools" filled with ice water will also be on hand at events, which athletes can sit in for up to 20 minutes, to assist muscle recovery. The pools themselves are made by a New Zealand company that specialises in birthing pools.

Andrea Hewitt, Olympic Triathlete, in the University of Canterbury wind tunnel. .

Looking to Beijing, SPARC has been involved in developing technology to help athletes and coaches monitor and refine their performance – to cut through water and air even faster. To train smarter.

Carbon masks and ionisers will also be on hand, not for training or competition, but rather for around the village and the city – if Beijing's smog becomes a problem.

This equipment has been funded out of the Acclimatisation Group's investment from SPARC, which has totalled around NZ$150,000 for the entire multi-year acclimatisation programme. Young says "New Zealand sports are pro-active and cost efficient with our acclimatisation technology developments. Compared to a lot of countries we do a lot with not a lot of money."

Of course, the role of science and technology stretches beyond acclimatisation alone. Looking to Beijing, SPARC has been involved in developing technology to help athletes and coaches monitor and refine their performance – to cut through water and air even faster. To train smarter.

"In rowing and kayaking there's been a lot of work in instrumentation – stuff to monitor power and speed," says Richard Young. GPS, power meters, and New Zealand developed software are all included here.

"The benefit of high-tech instrumentation is coaches get more signals, so they can give more cues to the athletes. It's about helping them to fine tune. Instrumentation could help a coach to identify if energy is lost from a boat moving left and right – which could be used to go forward".

"For yachting, rowing and kayaking, SPARC doesn't generally get involved in development of race day equipment. That's down to the big manufacturers, with big R&D budgets and links with individual coaches, athletes and National Sports Organisations. Hugely experienced people like Ian Ferguson work directly with the manufacturers to get a custom result" says Young.

In cycling, though, SPARC has been involved in a lot of work with wheels. Funded by SPARC, Milton Bloomfield of Dynamic Composites in Christchurch has developed super-aerodynamic and light carbon fibre wheels for the track cycling team.

It's a good demonstration of how knowledge feeds in from diverse areas, that Bloomfield utilises expertise gained from his work in glider technology.

Beyond wheels, development of cycle technology has been led by Bike NZ, working with Dynamic Composites, Avanti and The University of Canterbury - which has a wind tunnel. "These days a bike is custom made like a suit. It has to be tailored to the rider and the event they are competing in" says Young

SPARC has also invested in windsurfing – where Barbara Kendall is shooting for her fourth medal-winning Games. In Beijing, windsurfers will race on the RS:X board, designed by New Zealand's Neil Pryde.

Updated | 31 Oct 2008.

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