Pacing and Performance in Swimming: Differences Between Individual and Relay Events

Abstract

<jats:p><jats:italic><jats:bold>Purpose</jats:bold>:</jats:italic> Although pacing is considered crucial for success in individual swimming events, there is a lack of research examining pacing in relays. The authors investigated the impact of start lap and pacing strategy on swimming performance and whether these strategies differ between relays and the corresponding individual event. <jats:italic><jats:bold>Methods</jats:bold>:</jats:italic> Race data for 716 relay (4 × 200-m freestyle) finals from 14 international competitions between 2010 and 2018 were analyzed retrospectively. Each swimmer’s individual 200-m freestyle season’s best time for the same year was used for comparison. Races were classified as a fast, average, or slow start lap strategy (lap 1) and as an even, negative, or positive pacing strategy (laps 2–4) to give an overall race strategy, for example, average start lap even pacing. <jats:italic><jats:bold>Results</jats:bold>:</jats:italic> A fast start lap strategy was associated with slower 200-m times (range 0.5–0.9 s, <jats:italic>P</jats:italic> ≤ .04) irrespective of gender, and positive pacing led to slower 200-m (0.4–0.5 s, <jats:italic>P</jats:italic> ≤ .03) times in females. A fast start lap strategy led to positive pacing in 71% of swimmers. Half of the swimmers changed pacing strategy, with 13% and 7% more female and male swimmers, respectively, displaying positive pacing in relays compared with individual events. In relays, a fast start lap and positive pacing was utilized more frequently by swimmers positioned on second to fourth relay legs (+13%) compared with lead-off leg swimmers (+3%). <jats:italic><jats:bold>Conclusion</jats:bold>:</jats:italic> To maximize performance, swimmers should be more conservative in the first lap and avoid unnecessary alterations in race strategy in relay events.</jats:p>

Predicting performance in 4 x 200-m freestyle swimming relay events

“…Race data for 4 x 200-m freestyle relay finals from 14 international long course competitions between 2010 and 2018 were analysed retrospectively, comprising Olympic Games (2012,2016), Pan Pacific Championships (2010, 2014), World Championships (2011,2013,2015,2017), Commonwealth Games (2014,2018) and European Championships (2010,2012,2014,2016). This data set has been used previously [9] and included the world ranking for each swimmer in the year of that competition, reaction times, 50-m splits and overall times. For each relay swimmer, the individual 200-m freestyle season's best time for the same season (typically beginning around September and concluding around July-August) was located using FINA world rankings (https://www.fina.org/content/swimming-world-ranking).…”

“…A total of 716 relay swims, divided approximately evenly across the four relay legs, and corresponding individual event swims were analysed across 348 different swimmers (175 males and 173 females). To allow comparisons between individual and relay events, exchange block times for relay swimmers positioned on the second to fourth leg were adjusted to equal reaction times from the individual event using the methodology developed by [9] and [20].…”

“…Recently, pacing differences between individual and relay events in swimming have been examined indicating that some swimmers alter their pacing strategy during relay events [9]. This difference in pacing strategy between individual and relay swims may be attributed to the relay leg assignment as well as the added pressure to perform well for the team [9]. Extensive research on team dynamics and behavioural aspects of competitive relay swimming are described in the literature [10][11][12][13].…”

“…The 4 x 200-m freestyle relay is currently the longest relay in the FINA competition schedule. With each swimmer required to complete 4 x 50 m laps the event requires well-developed speed-endurance, technical skills in starts, turns and finishes, and the element of pacing and sufficient data to model pacing effects [9]. This complexity makes the 4 x 200-m freestyle ideal as a starting point for developing and testing predictive and analytical tools.…”

Comparison of Starts and Turns between Individual and Relay Swimming Races

“…Indeed, relay participation could even affect the pacing strategies employed by swimmers. In a recent study, McGibbon and co-workers [ 11 ] found that half of the investigated 200 m swimmers in fourteen international competitions changed to a positive pacing strategy in relay races that impaired their swimming performance during 4 × 200 m relays.…”