Engineering Project

By: Mattie Brennan

Engineering Concepts
Swimming In Water Polo

● Being a good swimmer is crucial when playing water polo

○ You have to be able to swim faster than the defender when you are trying to score
○ You have to be able to swim fast when playing defense because you want to stop the other
team from scoring
● Treading is also a necessity when playing water polo
Drag

● What is Drag?
○ A mechanical force generated by a solid object moving through a fluid
● How Does Drag Impact A Player?
○ Drag can slow a person down that may be swimming towards the ball, goal, etc
● Good Drag
○ Good drag can push the player forwards, this drag can be brought upon a swimmer when
they thrust forward

○ This can also be considered Thrust Force

Minimizing “Bad” Drag

● Bad Drag
○ The magnitude of “bad” drag can be represented with the formula
○ Force of drag = ½ (p)(ACv^2)
○ The coefficient of C is the drag coefficient which can be dropped by rotating your head or
bringing your elbow out of the water
● Mathematically Proven
○ v= ( 2P / pAC) ^⅓
○ V = ( 2P / pA (.99) C) ^ ⅓ = 1.0034
○ This shows that a 1 percent decrease would produce a .34% increase which is crucial when
in competition
Ball Passing

● Ball passing needs to be close to perfect when playing in a water polo

game
○ You need to be able to throw as far as 20 yards to one of your teammates depending where
they are in the pool
● If you throw the ball in the shape of a parabola ( a parabolic arch ) then the
ball will go farther than a horizontal throw
● Throwing a ball with a 45 degree angle will produce
○ A ball that will travel farther than a 60 degree angle
○ This shows how important it is to understand angles and where to place your elbow and
arm
Momentum

● Momentum can be measured by using the formula p=mv

○ This formula shows the inverse relationship between mass and velocity
● Each stroke produces a different velocity without worrying about body mass
○ Independent variables in each stroke involve stroke length and stroke frequency
● Stroke Length
○ The horizontal length the body travels when taking one stroke
● Stroke Frequency
○ This is how many stroke can be done per minute
Benefiting From Momentum

1. The inverse relationship between mass velocity can help conclude that one
way to increase your velocity is to lose body mass
2. Choosing strokes that move someone a far horizontal distance is beneficial
a. Butterfly and Breaststroke can propel your body forward a high distance
3. Competing in races that use many strokes per minutes can help increase
your velocity
a. Examples: freestyle and backstroke
4. It is also crucial to cup your hands when taking a stroke
Bibliography

● https://www.grc.nasa.gov/www/k-12/airplane/drag1.html
● https://www.wired.com/2016/08/wanna-swim-like-ledecky-take-dive-
physics-drag/
● https://www.nature.com/news/2004/040920/full/news040920-2.html
● https://www.real-world-physics-problems.com/drag-force.html