It's great sport

The Treadmill is being pounded by the feet of the Irish amateur heavyweight boxing champion while the exercise bikes whir. This is not a training session but a laboratory. UL's physiology lab is used by sports science students and postgraduate researchers as a tool to study athletes' performance and ways of improving upon it. The off-putting contraption in the corner is used to lower an athlete into a pool and, using Archimedes' Principle, to measure bodyweight with incredible accuracy.

Meanwhile, two second-year students, Rachel Brophy and Brian Nolan, are using a computer to work on their project. They had clamped a volunteer's leg into a fixed position and, using a mild electric current, looked at the muscle twitching in a bid to study voluntary contractions.

Further along, in the biomechanics lab, a postgraduate student talks us through her project - to over-simplify, she used high-speed film to record horses jumping a fence, digitised the images and analysed the horses' jumping ability in a bid to find out what distinguishes good jumpers.

Upstairs in the biochemistry lab frozen muscle biopsies are being cut on a crystostat into ultra-thin slices for staining and examination under the microscope. Meanwhile, reaction times and anticipation times are studied in another lab and the swimming pool and diving pool are also available for experimental work.

Sports and exercise science is coming of age in Limerick. In 1993 the college introduced a four-year degree in sports science and exercise, the only such undergraduate programme in the Republic.

Professor Phil Jakeman explains that what they have is "a young and exciting degree which uses the vehicle of sport and exercise in order to study science . . . there are three major strands - physiology, psychology and biomechanics."

The multi-disciplinary approach is necessary, he explains, as performers are integrated organisms and the various approaches make up a composite picture of how an athlete works or fails. "It's a tremendous academic challenge," he adds.

It's not just about athletes. Increased health consciousness brings sport and exercise into the prevention of conditions such as osteoporosis.

THE course director, Dr PJ Smyth, says that of the 24 students who graduated last year, the programme's first graduates, the majority have gone on to further study. A number has remained in UL on postgraduate programmes specialising further in biochemistry, sports psychology and biomedical engineering. Others have gone further afield to study areas such as sports nutrition and the physiology of exercise, says Smyth.

There are 35 first-year places on the degree and the cut-off points this year were high at 480. Minimum entry requirements are grade C3 in two higher-level Leaving Cert subjects and grade D3 in four ordinary or higher-level subjects, including maths, Irish or another language and English.

There are also specific science subject requirements. A high level of sports performance is not required but "it's essential that students should have a deep involvement in and commitment to sport and exercise."

The first year of the course lays a foundation in basic maths, physics, human anatomy, physiology and psychology while the major core disciplines of exercise physiology, biomechanics and psychology are introduced. These core areas are carried right through the four years, with lab experience as an integral part of their study. Scientific principles and procedures are applied to sport and exercise science in field as well as lab settings.

Students have the opportunity in first and second year to take part in selected modes of training. This allows them to prepare for coaching awards and certification, if they wish, says Smyth. During the spring and summer of third year, students do a six-to-eight-month work placement. In the final year, each student undertakes a major project.

Graduates of the programme may find work as a sport science or exercise science adviser, possibly with national sports agencies. Both Smyth and Jakeman point to the National Sports Strategy as a blueprint for future development and job opportunities. Graduates may also find work in the corporate sector as consultants on fitness programmes or they could enter into leisure, recreation and tourism-based activities.

Other possible careers include college and university training, research and marketing with sports and exercise manufacturing firms. The most popular option so far has been into the postgraduate research arena.