# Swimmers' wake structures are not reliable indicators of swimming performance

## TL;DR

This paper challenges the common assumption that swimmers' wake structures reliably indicate swimming performance, highlighting cases where this correlation does not hold and urging caution in interpreting wake patterns.

## Contribution

It critically examines the reliability of wake flow patterns as indicators of swimming performance and identifies specific scenarios where this assumption fails.

## Key findings

- Wake structures are not always reliable indicators of performance
- Caution is needed when interpreting wake flow patterns
- The paper discusses three specific cases of failure

## Abstract

The structure of swimmers' wakes is often assumed to be an indicator of swimming performance, that is, how momentum is produced and energy is consumed. Here, we discuss three cases where this assumption fails. In general, great care should be taken in deriving any conclusions about swimming performance from the wake flow pattern.