The study of physics and fluid dynamics in swimming has been a field of increasing interest for study in the past few decades among swimming coaches and enthusiasts.   Despite the long history of research, the understanding of how to move the human body effectively through the water is still in its infancy.  Competitive swimmers and their coaches of all levels are constantly striving for ways to improve their stroke technique and overall performance.  The research and performances of today's swimmers are continuously disproving the beliefs of the past.  Like in all sports, a better understanding of physics is enabling the world class swimmers to accomplish times never before thought possible.  This was displayed on the grandest of scales in the 2000 Olympics when Ian Thorpe, Inge De Bruijn, Pieter Van Den Hoogenband and a number of other swimmers broke a total of twelve world records and numerous Olympic and national records.