Perfil de ritmo de finalistas olímpicos nos 1500m de natação

Abstract

For high-performance athletes, every small adjustment matters. In this scenario, when we focus on swimming, a closer analysis of issues that go beyond the swimmer's physical and technical abilities, but also consider the energy distribution throughout the races, is necessary and valuable. For this reason, the present study aimed to investigate the pacing profile of Olympic finalist athletes in the 1500m freestyle and compare whether there were differences in the strategy adopted between men and women. To this end, data from the finals of the 1500m freestyle at the Tokyo and Paris Olympics were used, extracting the final time of 27 athletes, 14 men and 13 women. The opening (0-100m) and final (1400-1500m) splits were significantly faster than the others (p<0.01). Although men are faster than women in absolute terms, there was no difference in pacing between them in relative performance measures (i.e., relative pacing, coefficient of variation, and relative pacing amplitude). Therefore, elite/Olympic swimmers exhibit variable pacing dynamics, with an inverted-U pattern, regardless of gender.