Reply to the Editor — Regarding Multisite pacing strategies: Solutions looking for a problem?

In recent years, there has been an increasing number of investigations analyzing the effects of sex, performance level, and age on pacing in various running disciplines. However, little is known about the impact of those factors on pacing strategies in ultramarathon trail running. This study investigated the effects of age, sex, and performance level on pacing in the UTMB® (Ultra-trail du Mont Blanc) and aimed to verify previous findings obtained in the research on other running disciplines and other ultramarathon races. Data from the UTMB® from 2008 to 2019 for 13,829 race results (12,681 men and 1148 women) were analyzed. A general linear model (two-way analysis of variance (ANOVA)) was applied to identify a sex, age group, and interaction effect in pace average and pace variation. A univariate model (one-way ANOVA) was used to identify a sex effect for age, pace average, and pace variation for the fastest men and women. In our study, pace average and a steadier pace were positively correlated. Even pacing throughout the UTMB® correlated with faster finishing times. The average pace depended significantly on sex and age group. When considering the top five athletes in each age group, sex and age group also had significant effects on pace variation. The fastest women were older than the fastest men, and the fastest men were faster than the fastest women. Women had a higher pace variation than men. In male competitors, younger age may be advantageous for a successful finish of the UTMB®. Faster male runners seemed to be younger in ultramarathon trail running with large changes in altitude when compared to other distances and terrains.

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Pacing Strategies of 1500 m Freestyle Swimmers in the World Championships According to Their Final Position

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health ◽

10.3390/ijerph18147559 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 18 (14) ◽

pp. 7559

Author(s):

Beatriz Lara ◽

Juan Del Coso

Keyword(s):

Swimming Velocity ◽

Final Position ◽

Men And Women ◽

Elite Swimmers ◽

Pacing Strategies ◽

The World ◽

Total Data ◽

Fast Start ◽

Long Course ◽

Competitive Swimmers

In 1500 m freestyle swimming races, pacing is generally represented by a parabolic or U-shaped curve indicating that swimming velocity is greatest at the start and the last laps of the race while swimmers maintain an even pace through the middle section of the race. However, there is no information to determine if 1500 m race winners select pacing different to other, less successful swimmers within the same competition. Therefore, this investigation aimed to describe the pacing strategies adopted by 1500 m freestyle competitive swimmers in World Championships (long course), from 2003 to 2019 to determine the most effective pacing to obtain victory or a medal. The official overall and split times for 1500 m freestyle races of the Fédération Internationale de Natation (FINA) were obtained from the website of this organization. In total, data of 143 swimming performances (71 male and 72 female) were extracted. With the split times, lap times, and position were calculated across the race. To determine differences in the pacing between best- and worst-ranked finalist, swimmers in each race were divided into four groups based on the final position (1st vs. 2nd vs. 3rd vs. 4–8th). All the lap times of the winners of the race were faster than those of participants classified as 4–8th position for men and women races (p < 0.05). However, there were no differences in lap velocity among the different positions achieved at the end of the race when it was normalized by average race velocity. Additionally, there were no differences in the lap-to-lap variability among swimmers with different positions at the end of the race. In summary, both men and women elite swimmers selected parabolic pacing consisting of a fast start in the first lap, an even pace close to their average race velocity in the mid-section of the race (from 50 to 1400 m), followed by an end spurt in the final lap(s). This pattern was very similar in all finalists irrespective of the final position in the race. Hence, the obtaining of a medal in the World Championships was associated to possessing a faster average race velocity rather than a specific pacing profile through the race.

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Effect of the Pacing Strategies on the Open-Water 10-km World Swimming Championships Performances

International Journal of Sports Physiology and Performance ◽

10.1123/ijspp.2017-0274 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 13 (6) ◽

pp. 694-700 ◽

Cited By ~ 10

Author(s):

Luis Rodriguez ◽

Santiago Veiga

Keyword(s):

Open Water ◽

Public Domain ◽

Swimming Velocity ◽

The Public ◽

Pacing Strategies ◽

Race Performance

Purpose: To (1) compare the pacing strategies of different-level open-water swimmers during the 10-km race of the FINA 2015 Swimming World Championships and (2) relate these pacing strategies to the race performance. Methods: Final and intermediate split times, as well as intermediate race positions, from the 10-km race participants (69 men and 51 women) were collected from the public domain and were divided into 5 groups (G1–G5) depending on their finishing positions. Results: Medalists and finalists (G1 and G2, respectively) presented an even pacing profile with swimming velocities similar to those of the less successful swimmers (G3–G5) on the initial and middle stages of the race but a 1.5–3% increase in swimming velocity in the last quarter of the race. This acceleration toward the end of the race, or “end spurt,” was largely related to the race performance and was not observed in the G3 and G4 (even-paced profile) or G5 (positive pacing profile) groups. Intermediate race positions and lap rankings were negatively related to finishing position, indicating a delayed positioning of the most successful swimmers at 25%, 50%, and 75% of race distance. Conclusions: The adoption of a conservative starting strategy by open-water swimmers with a negative pacing profile and delayed partial positioning seems to increase the chances of overall race success, as it allows a fast end spurt that is closely related to successful finishing race positions.

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