ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Sports Act. Living
Sec. Elite Sports and Performance Enhancement
Volume 7 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fspor.2025.1600554
This article is part of the Research TopicSwimming Competitions Analysis: State of the Art and Future ImprovementView all 5 articles
The influence of tactical positioning on performance in world-championship freestyle swimming
Provisionally accepted
- 1Halmstad University, Halmstad, Sweden
- 2University of Granada, Granada, Spain
- 3Swiss swimming federation, Worblaufen, Switzerland
- 4Swiss Federal Institute of Sport Magglingen, Magglingen, Bern, Switzerland
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Purpose: This study examined tactical positioning and pacing in short-distance (100m), middle-distance (200m, 400m) and long-distance (800m, 1500m) freestyle events, focusing on the influence of race distance, competition round (HEAT vs. FINAL), and sex. Methods: Race data from multiple World Championships (2013 to 2023) were analyzed. Spearman's rank correlations (ρ) were calculated to examine rank stability across race distances, competition rounds, and sex. Additionally, lane distributions of Top3 finishers were analyzed to assess the impact of lane position on race outcomes. Results: Rank correlations increased progressively from the first to the final lap across all race distances (p<0.05). Long-distance events exhibited earlier rank stabilization, with correlations reaching ρ≥0.90 by 50% race completion, whereas middle-distance events showed greater positional variability throughout. Rank correlations were lower in FINALS than in HEATS (p<0.05), indicating greater positional shifts in high-stakes races. No significant sex-based differences were observed (p>0.05). Central lanes (4 and 5) were associated with the highest Top3 finish rates, while outer lanes (0, 1, 8, and 9) had the lowest, particularly in long-distance events. Conclusion: Finals foster more dynamic race strategies, with increased positional changes. Rank stability was achieved at a relatively earlier proportion of the race in long-distance events compared to middle-distance events. By the final lap, rank stability converged across all distances, suggesting that race order was largely set before the last lap, emphasizing early tactical positioning over late-race surges. These findings offer insights into optimizing race tactics and pacing in elite swimming.
Keywords: pacing, performance analysis, Rank order, Race strategy, positioning
Received: 26 Mar 2025; Accepted: 19 May 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Staunton, Ruiz-Navarro, Edholm and Born. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Craig Staunton, Halmstad University, Halmstad, Sweden
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