Sonification of Pressure Changes in Swimming for Analysis and Optimization

This paper introduces the sonification of pressure sensor data measured while executing crawl stroke swimming. Swimming research aims at better understanding the flow conditions in detail to adapt swimming strokes to achieve maximal speed with minimal energy consumption. The fact that a pressure field is induced during the interaction of body and water is rarely considered. Any aquatic self-induced locomotion needs a mediator to cause a reaction in terms of body motion since there is no solid object a swimmer can push off from. The mediator function is taken over by the pressure field caused by the swimmer’s actions. With our sonifications of the mediating hydrodynamic pressure – measured at 5 positions along one arm – we turn the hydrodynamic situation into a complex sonic rhythmical motive. These motives become auditory gestalts and we can identify differences and variations between patterns. We present six alternative sonification methods and discuss the resulting sounds in their ability to bring different patterns to atten- tion. Our future goal is to help swimmers to optimize their motions by real-time sonification.