New underwater camera system to boost WAIS Olympic and Paralympic hopefuls

On 4 November Minister for Sport and Recreation Mick Murray launched Western Australia’s first state of the art above water/underwater multi-camera motion analysis system installed at HBF Stadium.

The cameras will enable swimmers from the Western Australian Institute of Sport (WAIS) including dual Olympian Blair Evans, world record holder Brianna Throssell and Paralympic hopeful Ben Popham, to obtain real time data for performance analysis.

The system consists of an above water camera to assess the block start, and 4 built-in underwater cameras (at 2m, 5m, 10m and 15m) to assess the glide and breakout off a start, and from each type of turn.

This system also allows coaches to calibrate a section of the pool to derive a whole range of kinematic data including instantaneous velocity and distance measures through each phase of the start, turn and underwater kick.

 Installation of the cameras has been made possible through a joint commitment between WAIS, VenuesWest and Swimming Australia, with support from Hancock Prospecting.

With eight months until the Tokyo Olympic Games the camera system will provide a boost to the WAIS swimming program as athletes continue training in a COVID-19 interrupted year.