Windtunnel engineers' Olympic effort

Nick Harper visits the the windtunnel at the University of Southampton Credit: ITV

The team has helped Olympic athletes like cyclist Chris Hoy and skeleton bobsleigh champion Amy Williams.

Now they've been recognised for the work they've done over the last 40 years in the field of sports performance - the science behind sporting success - with a Queen's Anniversary Prize for Sports Technology.

Using the latest technology, they helped the Olympic athletes test their equipment and then work out ways to make them more aerodynamic, to help shave milli-seconds off their race times.

The Queen's Anniversary Prize, the most prestigious award universities can be given, recognises the world-leading work they do. The latest experiments are testing swimmers to find way to make their bodies more stream-lined and reduce drag through the water.

Angus Webb from the University of Southampton explains why they carry out the research.