When Paul Biedermann, an ordinary swimmer, won the gold medal at the 2009 World Aquatics Championships in Rome with the help of a state-of-the-art swimsuit, he demonstrated the importance of technological innovation in swimming and the impact that advances in materials science and engineering have on the sport and industry as a whole.
The 2009 World Aquatics Championships in Rome remained at the center of controversy long after the event ended, as Paul Biedermann, an unheralded swimmer, won gold in the 200-meter freestyle, beating Michael Phelps, who had won eight gold medals at the 2008 Beijing Olympics the year before. Biedermann broke Phelps’ world record in the 200-meter freestyle, an event that was once considered an ironclad discipline. In just one year, Biedermann went from medaling at the Beijing Olympics to the top of the world. If that were the case, Biedermann would be recognized as the new swimming emperor, not the center of controversy. However, many believed that Biedermann’s incredible achievement was due to the state-of-the-art swimsuits of the time, which resulted in more than 130 world records.
State-of-the-art swimwear basically takes the form of a full-body swimsuit. A good stretchy swimsuit can reduce the resistance of water and air, minimize the jiggling of muscles throughout the body, and reduce muscle fatigue. The most advanced swimsuits are made of “neoprene,” a waterless polyurethane. Polyurethane is lighter, more waterproof, and more buoyant than water. In swimming, kicking creates momentum and buoyancy, and a highly buoyant swimsuit allows you to use most of your kicks as momentum, which can help you improve your times. The surface of a high-tech swimsuit also holds the secret to improving your times. The fabrics of high-tech swimsuits have tiny bumps called “riblets” that make it easier for water to flow over the surface, reducing surface drag. The shape of the rivets is often triangular, modeled after shark scales, but they can also be shaped like the grooves on an airplane wing. Ribbets reduce surface drag for the following reasons Near the surface of the swimsuit, tiny swirls of water, called vortices, create a kind of frictional force that pulls the swimmer’s body backward. By applying a small protrusion, the vortex only acts on the top of the swimmer’s body, so that only a relatively small area of the swimmer’s body is affected by surface resistance, helping to improve times. As you can see, in today’s sports world, we have no choice but to rely on science to improve our skills and records. The two are so closely related that the term “scientific doping” has been jokingly coined.
The advent of high-tech swimwear has also had a huge impact on not only swimming, but also other water sports. Sports such as canoeing, rowing, and even surfing have seen significant improvements in performance due to the introduction of technology that reduces the body’s resistance and allows athletes to reach higher speeds. These technological innovations have revolutionized the world of sports, requiring athletes to change their training methods and strategies. There’s a lot of research and debate about how technological advances are changing the future of sports and where it’s headed.
Specialized materials are being researched and used in many sports to improve performance and safety, including so-called dream new materials. The development of new and superior materials is the key to ushering in a new era, even in fields related to our daily lives such as sports. Materials science is the basis for the development of all fields, including precision machinery, electronics, aerospace, energy engineering, environmental engineering, and other advanced industries. Throughout history, we have classified human civilizations into the Stone Age, Bronze Age, and Iron Age. This is because the level of development of a civilization can be measured by the materials that make up the tools people used at the time. From this perspective, a civilization that does not develop superior materials naturally falls into decline, and in the relationship between nations, the development of superior materials is also manifested as national competitiveness. In the case of Korea, reliable steel materials are behind the development of the automobile, shipbuilding, and other mechanical industries, which have contributed greatly to the development of Korea as an industrially advanced country, and various weapons materials are behind the development of urban, construction, and civil engineering. Behind the development of the semiconductor industry, which is necessary for information and communication, are the efforts of numerous materials engineers to develop processes, and we are working to develop new plastic materials for the new world that will be opened up through the wellness, bio, and ubiquitous industries. As such, materials engineering has always played a central role in solving challenges and is an important part of national competitiveness.
Furthermore, the development of materials science is a key factor for a sustainable future. In response to environmental challenges and resource depletion, the development of environmentally friendly materials and renewable resources is becoming increasingly important. This is not just limited to the industrial sector, but is also making a big difference in our daily lives. For example, eco-friendly materials such as bioplastics are helping to reduce the use of plastic and tackle the problem of waste. These materials are biodegradable, meaning they naturally decompose after use and don’t put a strain on the environment. It’s also important to develop materials that are more energy efficient. Highly efficient solar panels, energy storage devices, and electric vehicle batteries are all technologies that have been made possible by advances in materials science.
At the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at Seoul National University in South Korea, research is underway to understand and maximize the performance of various materials, including polymeric materials, metallic materials, inorganic materials, biomaterials, and electronic materials, so that they can be used in fields related to everyday life, such as sports, as well as in the high-tech industries of the future. Like humanity, which has evolved alongside changes in materials in the past, materials science will continue to be a driving force for future progress and prosperity.
Materials science is more than just an academic endeavor; it has real-world implications for industry and society at large. Materials engineers are constantly working to develop new materials and improve the performance of existing materials in preparation for the future. These efforts will ultimately improve the quality of human life and contribute to a better world. In the future, materials science will play an important role in addressing the many challenges facing humanity, and will continue to play a key role in sustainable development.
