In the fall of 2014, Andrew Wilson took a front-row seat in Ken Ono’s number theory class at Emory University in Atlanta. Wilson was not only double majoring in applied math and physics, he was a walk-on member of Emory’s swim team. Ono took an interest in Wilson’s ambitions. “We thought that together, maybe we could use our interest in mathematics to help him improve as a swimmer,” Ono said.
Ono, who typically studies abstract patterns in numbers and special functions called modular forms, began collecting and analyzing acceleration data from Wilson and other Emory swimmers to identify and quantify their weaknesses. “It got to the point where I could just see what an athlete was doing without actually watching them swim,” he said.
Within two years, Wilson won a national collegiate championship; he would go on to earn a gold medal at the 2021 Olympics in Tokyo. By then, Ono had moved to the University of Virginia, where he worked alongside Todd DeSorbo — the head coach for both UVA swimming and the U.S. Olympic women’s swim team. Ono will join the Olympic team staff in Paris later this summer as a technical consultant. “I feel like we’re all in this together, trying to make something new,” he said.
Quanta spoke with Ono about how he has used mathematics to help swimmers make it to the Olympic stage. The interview has been condensed and edited for clarity.
So how successful has your program been?
The results speak for themselves. A bunch of our people went to the Olympics in 2021. At the most recent world championships, every female American gold medalist in individual events was a UVA athlete. Kate Douglass showed up here at UVA a few years ago, swimming the 200-meter breaststroke in two minutes and 30 seconds. Now she’s the American record holder, with a time of two minutes, 19.30 seconds. She just broke the U.S. Olympic trials’ all-time record, and she’s a favorite to win the Olympics this year.
Nine UVA athletes, including Kate, just became U.S. Olympians — one-fifth of the U.S. team! Gretchen Walsh won the 100-meter butterfly, setting the world record. Paige Madden got second in the 400-meter freestyle, right after Katie Ledecky; Paige is now a two-time Olympian.
Ken Ono has helped analyze and improve the performance of some of America’s best swimmers, combining his enthusiasm for math and sports.
www.quantamagazine.org
Ono, who typically studies abstract patterns in numbers and special functions called modular forms, began collecting and analyzing acceleration data from Wilson and other Emory swimmers to identify and quantify their weaknesses. “It got to the point where I could just see what an athlete was doing without actually watching them swim,” he said.
Within two years, Wilson won a national collegiate championship; he would go on to earn a gold medal at the 2021 Olympics in Tokyo. By then, Ono had moved to the University of Virginia, where he worked alongside Todd DeSorbo — the head coach for both UVA swimming and the U.S. Olympic women’s swim team. Ono will join the Olympic team staff in Paris later this summer as a technical consultant. “I feel like we’re all in this together, trying to make something new,” he said.
Quanta spoke with Ono about how he has used mathematics to help swimmers make it to the Olympic stage. The interview has been condensed and edited for clarity.
So how successful has your program been?
The results speak for themselves. A bunch of our people went to the Olympics in 2021. At the most recent world championships, every female American gold medalist in individual events was a UVA athlete. Kate Douglass showed up here at UVA a few years ago, swimming the 200-meter breaststroke in two minutes and 30 seconds. Now she’s the American record holder, with a time of two minutes, 19.30 seconds. She just broke the U.S. Olympic trials’ all-time record, and she’s a favorite to win the Olympics this year.
Nine UVA athletes, including Kate, just became U.S. Olympians — one-fifth of the U.S. team! Gretchen Walsh won the 100-meter butterfly, setting the world record. Paige Madden got second in the 400-meter freestyle, right after Katie Ledecky; Paige is now a two-time Olympian.
Ken Ono has helped analyze and improve the performance of some of America’s best swimmers, combining his enthusiasm for math and sports.
How America’s Fastest Swimmers Use Math to Win Gold | Quanta Magazine
Number theorist Ken Ono is teaching Olympians to swim more efficiently.
www.quantamagazine.org
