Pacing in age-group freestyle swimmers at The XV FINA World Masters Championships in Montreal 2014.

Pacing strategies have been investigated for elite-standard freestyle swimmers, but little is known about pacing in age-group freestyle swimmers. We investigated changes in swimming time across distances in 4,481 women and men swimmers who competed in 100, 200, 400, and 800 m freestyle age groups from 25-29 years to 90-94 years in the FINA World Masters Championships 2014. In 100 to 800 m, there was a small lap×sex interaction (P < 0.001, 0.033 ≤ η ≤ 0.045) whereby women had larger lap-to-lap changes in swimming time than men. From 100 to 800 m, there were moderate to large lap×age group interactions (P < 0.001, 0.054 ≤ η ≤ 0.235), i.e., pacing patterns differed by age groups. There were small main effects of lap on time in 100, 200, 400 and 800 m freestyle events (P < 0.001, 0.033 ≤ η ≤ 0.045). In summary, (i) the largest increase in swimming time occurred during the second lap and a decrease in time occurred during the last lap, except in the 100 m, and (ii) the effect of participants' sex on lap time indicated larger percentage changes of pacing in women than in men. These findings should help coaches to develop age- and event-tailored pacing strategies.