UK runners dominated middle distance events 25 years ago.

Sadly, at the Commonwealth Games, in 13 of 14 events for men and women from 400 metres through the marathon, UK athletes scored zero.

Zero medals of any sort. The one lonely medal was a bronze in the women's 1500.

UK athletes could not have done much worse. How can this be? Has the rest of the world gotten insanely better?

Well, yes, the rest of the world has improved. But not Britain. British records for 800m, 1000m, 1500m, mile, 2000m and marathon are all 25 years old. The British records for the 3000m and 5000m are 28 years old. For the last quarter century, British running has literally stood still.

What's the problem? Have Brits become lazy? Are athletes 'spoiled'? What about the millions of pounds spent on coaches, administrators, trainers and scientists to improve performance over the past quarter century? Did that money just disappear in someone's pockets?

None of this is true. British runners work even harder than those of 25 years ago. In fact, they may work too hard. One runner cited fatigue as his reason for not attending the Commonwealth Games.

Our analysis shows the obvious and glaring difference between current runners and past record holders.

Current runners are much stiffer than their record-holding predecessors. We measured the stride angle (which determines stride length) of current middle-distance runners and found that they are 21-26 degrees smaller than Coe and Cram - which means that they cover 42-58% less ground with each stride. You can see these athletes and our analysis at http://www.somaxsports.com/UKrunners

Little wonder those quarter-century old records still stand. Little wonder that current UK runners scored zero in 13 out of 14 events at Delhi.

In addition to athletics, swimming is the other premier event at the Olympics. How did UK swimmers fare at Delhi?

Of 42 events for men and women, Britain won nine gold medals, or 21 per cent of the events they entered. Australia, by comparison, won 21 events, a much more impressive 50 per cent of events entered.

Well, you say, that's not too bad. At least it's not as bad as athletics.

Well and good, but this ignores the fact that the Americans, Japanese, Hungarians, Swedes and other countries that win gold in swimming were not there.

It also ignores the fact that the UK has a population of 61.4 million, while Australia has about a third of that with only 21.4 million souls.

British swimming records are, thankfully, more current, with most of the records set in the past two years. This explains why their medal count at Delhi was much better than the runners. But still, they won less than half the golds of a country with a third of the population.

So what is the problem with UK swimming?

Watching the British team at the World Championships, we noticed that their stroke count was higher than their faster competitors. In other words, like their athletics counterparts, they are covering less distance with each stroke than the swimmers who are beating them.

When you cover less ground or water than your competitors, you are simply less efficient than they are. To win today, you have to be more efficient than your competitors - just as you have to be more efficient to win in Formula One and business. You can't rely on strength and endurance alone.

Why do they cover less water with each stroke? Recently, one elite UK swimmer sent us a video of his underwater stroke and photos of his flexibility. We were appalled. His stroke was so inefficient, his flexibility so poor, that we were amazed at the times he could produce. He must have been swimming on British guts alone.

Increasing the stride angle and stroke length of UK runners and swimmers would guarantee more appearances at the top of the victory stand in 2012. But UK Performance has expressed no interest in doing this.

Brits are losing races - and precious time to improve - simply because they are less efficient and flexible than their competitors, and no one in British sport seems the least bit interested in changing that.

Bob Prichard is the President of Somax Sports Corporation. He is the author of "The Efficient Golfer" - he first golf book to show readers how to use their home camcorder to videotape, measure, analyse and improve their swing mechanics -and he developed and patented the Somax Power Hip Trainer, the first aerobic exercise machine to increase the strength and speed of hip rotation for golf, tennis, football and swimming