SUMS: Wilcox -- The Swimming Pool Problem

Hello everyone,
 
I hope you all had an enjoyable holidays. Our most recent speaker from last 
semester, Stewart Wilcox, is leaving for America next week, and would like to 
give one more talk before he returns to Harvard. This one will be based on 
something that he has looked at for quite a long time, the Swimming Pool 
Problem:

    Consider a square swimming pool with Student A in the middle, and Student 
B standing on a corner. B can run k times as fast as A can swim, but A can run 
faster than B, and B can't swim. What is the largest possible value of k such 
that student A can escape from the pool without getting caught by B? How would 
a circular pool change the problem?

People such as Terry Tao have looked at this problem so I'm sure it will be 
interesting to see Stewart discuss, and in particular show the solution!
 
Most importantly though, we have a change of venue this semester. This time we 
will be in room 350, which is almost directly below the room that we were in 
for the first half of the year. The time and day will remain the same, so I 
hope nobody gets too lost and we all see you there on Wednesday!
 
Talk: The Swimming Pool Problem
Speaker: Stewart Wilcox
Location: Carslaw 350
Date/Time: Wednesday, 29 July, 1-2pm