Predicting Swim Performance

Internal Assessment (IA)

Number of Pages: 5

IB Mathematics Applications and Interpretations

Standard Level (SL)

I was a competitive swimmer in my youth. I swam on the swim team between the ages of 6 and 14, training regularly and competing in events, while attempting to beat the best times. Swimming wasn’t merely a sport I playedit was something I loved and dedicated hours and effort towards. Even then, however, at the tender age, I would think: What contributes to making an individual faster in the water? Is it the amount you train, the height, or the strokes per swim? I wonder if all those small details mattered.

That interest led me to this project. I wanted to apply mathematical analysis through innovative systems Math AIto examine the variables affecting swimmers’ performance. Essentially, the primary goal was to explore how parameters such as rate, length, stature, and training hours could be applied to predict the swimmer’s lap time. I already swam, and I believed it was the best approach to integrate something I was passionate about with the concepts I was learning in mathematics.

I used a test dataset for 50 different swimmers. They all came from my job, as I work at the pool as a lifeguard and pool operator. I included variables such as age, height, the number of hours they trained each week, stroke rate (the number of strokes per minute), the length of each stroke, and 50-meter swim final lap time. Some I calculated from actual athletes’ statistics, and some I computed using the formula: Lap Time = Distance (Stroke Rate Stroke Length (1 60) The equation helped estimate the time the swimmer would complete the 50-meter lap based on how far the swimmer goes in each stroke and how many strokes the swimmer does in a minute. I used it to calculate plausible times for the laps and look for patterns in the data.

As I began comparing the times, I found that the faster stroking swimmers and those with longer strokes were turning in faster times for their laps. In addition to moving quicker, however, efficiency was the key. I noticed that some swimmers with slower strokes, yet longer strokes, were turning in the same or faster times than swimmers who stroked faster, just not quite as far with each stroke. It hit home with me because it reminded me of what my swim coaches would remind me in practice: “It’s not about moving faster, it’s about moving smarter.”

What I enjoyed most was how Mathematics AI made it all clear. It wasn’t merely reaffirming the things I already knew, but it also illustrated how the numbers reinforced it all. I could clearly understand how mathematics could turn something tangible, such as swimming, into patterns and projections. Something I never really concentrated on when I was young. I now realize how useful it isonce more, not just for the athletes, but for the coaches and the sport app programmers who could use Math AI to deliver answers and advice based on actual performance metrics.

This project allowed me to bridge two parts of my life that I never would have thought would intersect in any way: my sports life and my academic life. It allowed me to understand that mathematics is not just about sitting down and doing problems on paper; it can be applied in defining real-life performance. With Math AI, we can account for all the little things that make up a sport and understand how these elements interact to enable an individual to be faster, stronger, or more efficient.

In the end, however, it wasn’t about the numbers. It was about applying the things Ive been learning in math class to help me grasp something Ive enjoyed for years. Now I know that Math AI is not just for tech companies or engineersit’s something athletes like me can tap into.

Math Processes (DUE Quarter 2)

Checklist (click the boxes to check off items as you complete them) Delete this box when complete

Explain in a way that a reader who has only taken Algebra could understand
Simple Math Process to identify general trends from the data collection
Define any mathematical terms as they come up
Analyze data using mathematics learned in class
Reflect on how identified trends relate to your research question
Prediction or claim that you will evaluate in the further math process
Further Math Process to investigate relationship further
Define any mathematical terms as they come up
Analyze data using mathematics learned in class
Reflect on how identified trends relate to your research question