A-STEM: Our Research in Action
We strive to make a difference and for our research to have a real impact. Take a look at the impact of our research in the overview provided here.
Enhancing performance in elite athletes
Research conducted at Swansea University has helped transform the pre-competition strategies of elite sport. This research has focused mainly on the application of post-activation potentiation (PAP), manipulation of warm-up variables and morning priming for enhanced performance.
This work has had significant impact on the successes of elite skeleton bobsleigh athletes at the 2010 Winter Olympics and a number of other British sports during London 2012 (e.g. British Cycling who won 12 medals).
The research continues to impact elite sports and is being embedded into athletes’ pre-competition routines for Sochi 2014 and Rio 2016.
Improving anti-doping education
The use of performance enhancing methods and substances, or ‘doping’, has been the major ethical issue relating to elite sports for several decades. Prof McNamee has led internationally recognised research that has contributed significantly to national and international approaches to catch or deter athletes from doping.
This has taken the form of research underpinning the development of UK wide approaches to anti-doping education for sportsmen and women, educational materials for sports physicians around the world, and significant influences on policy critique and development at the global level for both the International Cycling Union and the World Anti Doping Agency (WADA).