So the previous Saturday I swam four events. Of which I'm most proud of my 100m freestyle. Not so much the time (1:00.29 in SCM, about a 53 second for SCY - pretty slow for 13-14 boys) but rather the beautiful splits I had...

My splits were 29.79 and 30.50 which is right about even after accounting the time you drop from a dive. For me, these were the ideal splits. My 50m freestyle is rather sluggish in comparison to others, but my speed endurance is another thing to be reckoned with. All my 100m races for strokes are always so evenly split as I'm extremely good at pacing my first 50m. Now normally, kids my age split VERY terribly in this event. Someone in the same heat went out faster than me the first 50m and died with a time of 1:04.99.

So my thoughts are that for me, personally, splitting it evenly is the way to go. I know some people who actually do do better by going out hard and hanging on, but that's not for me.

So how about you guys?

Splitting evenly I think is much more important when you get to greater distance events, however for the short short distances like the 100 its expected to go significantly (relative) faster in the first 50 than the second 50. Of course, when I say significantly I don't mean a large amount, but the split is generally more pronounced than longer distance events.

So would it be more beneficial for me to swim say, a 27, then try to hang on as best I can? Cause a 27 tires me out VERY much, but I feel as if I could swim around a 30 flat for 150 meters.

Well technically you should go which for whichever one gives you the better final result I was just giving a general statement on split trends.

My best 100 breasts were swam going out a 36/37 and gliding more on the second 50, as opposed to trying to even/negative split it. I find it better to carry your speed from your dive, when you (should) have the most momentum in the entire race. Before, I had a similar mindset as you-Slow and steady. Later on, my coach suggested me to play around with my sprinting ability, and I ended up with a PB and seeded 2nd in finals that race.

(Jun 11, 2011 2:42pm)Carrot Wrote:  My best 100 breasts were swam going out a 36/37 and gliding more on the second 50, as opposed to trying to even/negative split it. I find it better to carry your speed from your dive, when you (should) have the most momentum in the entire race. Before, I had a similar mindset as you-Slow and steady. Later on, my coach suggested me to play around with my sprinting ability, and I ended up with a PB and seeded 2nd in finals that race.

Actually, you're very right. I've been messing around with going fast on the first 50 and apparently my speed endurance is much better than I had anticipated. Just this Saturday I went a 28.69 the first 50 and came home with a 29.21. Granted, this might have to do with my rapid improvement, but I think that going out fast on the first 25 then trying an EZ speed for the next 50 then taking it home strong is a good strategy. I've improved from a 1:00.29 (roughly 53 in scy) to a 57.90 (roughly a 51 in scy) in just a month or two which is quite a nice improvement

So yeah, messing around with your splits can be helpful as long as it's not an important race. Don't wanna screw up in an important race :/