Now that another collegiate season is over, it’s time to update the relative baseline race strategies for the 100 & 200 yard stroke races.

As stated in my previous article regarding race strategies, using a relative strategy based on percentiles rather than an absolute strategy based on time does not disfavor any swimmers and allows for comparisons across strokes and distances.

For criteria, I analyzed the times (both final and splits) for the top five female and male finishers in each of the 100-yard and 200-yard stroke finals from 2010-2014 NCAA Division I Championships. Note that the main assumption to make in this analysis is that the 2^nd (and 3^rd and 4^th where applicable) 50 is dependent upon the speed of the first.

For each race listed below, you will find the average splits, final times and percent delta from the first lap. For a full list of split breakdowns and recommended race strategies, please refer to the case study presentations for female and male

Female 100 Yard Butterfly

• 24.22 + 27.39 = 51.61

  • 1^st to 2^nd 50 = 13.1%

Female 100 Yard Backstroke

• 24.90 + 26.49 = 51.39

  • 1^st to 2^nd 50 = 6.4%

Female 100 Yard Breaststroke

• 27.69 + 31.10 = 58.79

  • 1^st to 2^nd 50 = 12.3%

Female 100 Yard Freestyle

• 22.95 + 24.61 = 47.55

  • 1^st to 2^nd 50 = 7.2%

Male 100 Yard Butterfly

• 21.21 + 24.28 = 45.49

  • 1^st to 2^nd 50 = 14.5%

Male 100 Yard Backstroke

• 21.89 + 23.61 = 45.50

  • 1^st to 2^nd 50 = 7.9%

Male 100 Yard Breaststroke

• 24.28 + 27.58 = 51.87

  • 1^st to 2^nd 50 = 13.6%

Male 100 Yard Freestyle

• 20.08 + 21.95 = 42.03

  • 1^st to 2^nd 50 = 9.2%

Female 200 Yard Butterfly

• 25.82 + 28.74 + 29.26 + 29.62 = 1:53.45

  • 1^st to 2^nd 50 = 11.3%

  • 1^st to 3^rd 50 = 13.3%

  • 1^st to 4^th 50 = 14.7%

Female 200 Yard Backstroke

• 26.52 + 28.08 + 28.30 + 28.30 = 1:51.21

  • 1^st to 2^nd 50 = 5.9%

  • 1^st to 3^rd 50 = 6.7%

  • 1^st to 4^th 50 = 6.7%

Female 200 Yard Breaststroke

• 28.86 + 32.12 + 32.56 + 33.12 = 2:06.67

  • 1^st to 2^nd 50 = 11.3%

  • 1^st to 3^rd 50 = 12.8%

  • 1^st to 4^th 50 = 14.8%

Female 200 Yard Freestyle

• 24.28 + 26.03 + 26.28 + 26.30 = 1:42.90

  • 1^st to 2^nd 50 = 7.2%

  • 1^st to 3^rd 50 = 8.2%

  • 1^st to 4^th 50 = 8.3%

Male 200 Yard Butterfly

• 22.90 + 25.90 + 26.11 + 26.67 = 1:41.58

  • 1^st to 2^nd 50 = 13.1%

  • 1^st to 3^rd 50 = 14.0%

  • 1^st to 4^th 50 = 16.5%

Male 200 Yard Backstroke

• 23.48 + 25.26 + 25.57 + 25.69 = 1:39.99

  • 1^st to 2^nd 50 = 7.6%

  • 1^st to 3^rd 50 = 8.9%

  • 1^st to 4^th 50 = 9.4%

Male 200 Yard Breaststroke

• 25.44 + 28.61 + 29.00 + 29.46 = 1:52.50

  • 1^st to 2^nd 50 = 12.5%

  • 1^st to 3^rd 50 = 14.0%

  • 1^st to 4^th 50 = 15.8%

Male 200 Yard Freestyle

• 21.70 + 23.42 + 23.73 + 24.08 = 1:32.94

  • 1^st to 2^nd 50 = 7.9%

  • 1^st to 3^rd 50 = 9.4%

  • 1^st to 4^th 50 = 11.0%