Pace plans for 100m events

A properly paced race will be faster than a poorly paced one. Pacing involves swimming the first half to three quarters of races slower so that the remainder can be swum faster. Swimmers find that the total time for races is faster when they do this.

Athletes can race at maximum effort for only 40 to 45 sec before severe acidosis sets in. This does not mean that athletes can maintain maximum speed for 40 sec. The effects of progressive acidosis actually begin reducing the rate of anaerobic glycolysis after approximately 15 sec of all out effort. In races of 100m or longer, swimmers delay acidosis by swimming slower in the early stages.

Pace plans

One of the most important decisions that swimmers make is choosing a pace, or swimming speed, for each race. Swimmers hae used three general race plans over the years - even pacing, fast-slow pacing, and slow-fast pacing, also known by the term negative splitting. Research have shown that fast-slow pacing is the least effective of the three methods but has been inconclusive about which of the other two methods is best.

Race plans for 100m events

In 100m events, the usual pattern that swimmers use is to swim the first 50m approximately 0.50 to 0.80 sec slower than an all out effort for that distance. The difference in time between their fastest times for 50m anf their times for the first 50m of a 100m event are usually greater than 1 sec for freestyle and backstroke events because the split for the first 50m includes a turn.

The drop off in the second half of freestyle and backstroke races should be about 1 to 1.50 sec for freestyle swimmers and between 0.70 and 1.50 sec for backstrokers. In butterfly the drop off from the first to the second 50m should be 1.50 to 2 sec, and in breaststroke it may be slightly greater at 2.50 to 3 sec. 

Swimmers should start 100m events with stroke rates that they can maintain throughout the first three quarters of these races. They should then increase that rate by 1 or 2 cycles/min on the final 25 segment. Starting these races with strokes rates that are too high will cause swimmers to fatigue earlier and slow their velocity so much at the end that their overall times may generally be slower.