Exclusive Video of World Record Swim
You might have seen the U.S. women win gold and break the world record on national television, but here is an opportunity to re-live this incredible performance.  Here’s the best way to analyze the race:

1. Read the article to learn about the different parts of the swim
2. Watch the video, paying attention to the key parts of the U.S. women’s race, such as race strategy, stroke rate, efficiency and consistency, and other factors outlined in this article.

Watch the Race

Wednesday, Aug. 18, 2004.  2004 Olympic Games, Athens, Greece.
With 28 total medals, 12 gold medals, four world records and seven American records, there were plenty of highlights for the U.S. Olympic Team in Athens, Greece.  By any standard it was a very successful Olympic campaign, overcoming high expectations as well as the deepest Olympic swimming competition in history where 15 different nations won gold medals (previously, no more than 10 different nations won gold).  Of the four world records set by Team USA, none was broken more convincingly than the women’s 800 free relay.  Exactly 17 years to the day after the East German women set the mark, the U.S. team of Natalie Coughlin, Carly Piper, Dana Vollmer and Kaitlin Sandeno combined four incredible individual efforts to break the record by more than two seconds. The foursome ran away from the rest of the field, and by the end, was just racing history. This feature will take a closer look at how this total team effort made it possible to smash the oldest record in the books.

Setting the Stage
The team effort that went into this historic performance started even before finals began.  The preliminary relay made up of U.S. team captain Lindsay Benko, Rhi Jeffrey, Carly Piper and Rachel Komisarz did its job by swimming the fastest time of the morning and getting the U.S. into the top lane in finals.  The role of the morning relay is sometimes overlooked, but it is by no means an insignificant responsibility. The prelim swimmers have to swim fast enough to get a good lane in finals and still maintain safe relay starts.  The US preliminary relay did just that. Their qualifying time of 8:00.81 was the fastest morning time in history.

The race for the gold was not going to be an easy one.  Looking at the rosters on paper, four teams were capable of swimming under the East German world record of 7:55.47 and in the 7:53 range – USA, Australia, China and Germany.  In prelims, the up-and-coming British team qualified second, followed by Australia and Germany.  China was in Lane 7 for the final.  The Americans have never lost this race in international competition, and most recently, at the 2003 World Championships, posted the second-fastest time in history with a 7:55.70.  Showing the depth of the U.S. women’s team, none of the four women from that relay a year ago were on the finals relay at the 2004 Olympics.

For each leg of the relay, key factors that went into making it a success will be pointed out.  The Race Analysis data will be referred to and is at the end of each swimmer’s section.  Notice how the race is broken down into many parameters and that there is a lot more to a perfect race than just the final time.  For more information on USA Swimming National Team Technical Support’s Race Analysis program, CLICK HERE.

With the sound of the starting signal, Coughlin used a great dive and underwater dolphin kick to propel her to an early lead on the field.  Her stroke rate (or tempo) started off quick before settling down to a smooth, even tempo for the rest of the first 100. 

In the race analysis data below, notice that there are three columns of tempo/rate.  Notice how Coughlin’s first stroke rate is slightly higher than the rest of the stroke rate numbers for the first 100.  A swimmer’s rate for each length of the pool is broken down into three sections so that we are able to see if and how their rate changes over that length.  Generally, a swimmer wants to maintain a consistent stroke rate for each length; a decrease in stroke rate from the beginning to end of each length can possibly be a sign of fatigue.  Stroke rate can be expressed in two ways – cycles per minute or seconds per cycle (in parentheses).

At the halfway point of her 200, Coughlin was in 7^th place, only in front of the Brazilian team.  In control and unrattled, this was part of her race strategy.  Coming off of the second turn, after 4 cycles, Coughlin turned on her kick and increased her stroke rate dramatically!  The significant increase in stroke rate helped lead to an increased swimming velocity.  The result was a third and fourth 50 that was almost a second faster than the second 50 and catapulted her into first place.

Being able to manage your race similar to how Coughlin did is a sound racing strategy.  The ability to bring a race home very strong, as opposed to taking a race out very fast and hoping to have something left coming back, has proven to generally be more successful in high levels of competition.  One can speculate that maybe Coughlin should have built her speed instead of “turning it on” in the 3^rd 50, but it’s hard to argue with her time of 1:57.74 – a time that would have been worthy of a gold medal in the individual event the day before.

Coughlin breathed every three strokes for the first 100, and then alternated breathing every two and every four strokes on her left side for the last 100.  Being the great swimmer that she is, she did not breathe for more than 5 meters going into the touch, ensuring a good relay exchange for Piper.

With a strong kick throughout, Piper finished with a solid split of 1:59.39.  The finish for each relay member is extremely important because not only are you trying to get to the wall the fastest, but you are also trying to maintain a consistent stroke rate so that the next relay member can time their start properly.  An erratic stroke rate, glide into the wall, or an extra stroke can throw off the timing of a relay exchange and lead to a slow exchange or disqualification.  It is important to be familiar with who is swimming before you in a relay, and the USA does a great job of practicing these exchanges.  Piper doesn’t breathe going into the wall, setting up a good take-off for Vollmer.

The Chinese moved into second place with a strong leg from Yanwei Xu of 1:58.45.  Both the Americans and Chinese were now under world record pace. However, the U.S. still led by more than a second.

Now as a member of the 800 free relay, she was tasked with maintaining the U.S. lead against the Chinese and surging Germans.  Just like Piper, Vollmer maintained her composure under the circumstances and stuck with her race plan.  Vollmer’s average stroke rate for the first and second length in the relay was virtually the same as in her individual finals race.  Her 100 split in the relay swim was a 57.67, compared to her individual swim split of 57.73.  In contrast, in Lane 6, Antje Buschschulte from Germany tried to make up the deficit all in first 100, splitting a blazing 55.70.

In the third 50, Vollmer maintained a consistent stroke rate, but on average, it was lower than her individual finals swim (43.1 vs. 44.9 cycles per minute).  However, because her distance per cycle was greater in the relay swim (2.26 vs. 2.15 meters per cycle), the third 50 split time remained similar (30.53 vs. 30.63).

Stroke rate and distance per cycle have a direct relationship in determining swimming speed.  Different combinations of each can possibly result in the same speed.  For example, in the relay, Vollmer took longer strokes and moved her arms a little slower resulting in a split of 30.53.  In her individual swim, she took shorter strokes (traveled less distance with each stroke), but made up for that by moving her arms a little faster, resulting in a very similar split of 30.63.  The ideal combination of stroke rate and distance per cycle for every swimmer is very individual since everybody’s stroke, strengths, physiology, etc. is different.

The longer strokes and lower stroke rate for the third length (not to mention the excitement from the situation) could possibly have been a factor that enabled Vollmer to bring her leg of the relay home much faster than in her individual race (29.92 vs. 30.62).  She was able to sustain a much higher distance per cycle than what she did in her individual final (2.18 vs. 2.05 meters per cycle).

Vollmer touched with a split of 1:58.12, extending the U.S. lead to over two seconds ahead of the Chinese and under world record pace.

(Buschschulte of Germany split 1:58.46, despite taking the race out two seconds faster than Vollmer at the halfway point.  Who had the better race strategy?)

At this point in the race, it was just Sandeno racing against the clock. She used a relay take-off that consisted of both feet starting towards the back of the block, and then stepping each foot up to the front one at a time.  It just so happened that Piper, Vollmer and Sandeno each used different relay take-off styles.  All involve an arm swing, and all involve moving at least one foot to the front of the block before jumping off the block.  To take full advantage of a relay take-off, both of these actions should be employed, as they get your momentum moving forwards to make for the fastest start possible.  Since there is a good deal of coordination involved, relay take-offs should be practiced so that you can find the most comfortable and most effective style for you.

Sandeno constructed an anchor leg that was as perfect as anyone could have asked for.  She took her race out smooth and controlled, built her stroke rate with each 50, managed to come home strong and touched in a split time of 1:58.17 – almost 1.5 seconds faster than her best flat-start time.

A World Record
For the second day in a row, an 800m free relay victory sent the U.S. contingent into euphoria.  This time, seven American women ended up with gold medals and a country that was beaming with pride for them.  The U.S. women combined four outstanding individual efforts to destroy the mark from 1987.  It couldn’t have been planned or executed any better.  From the starts, to the race strategy, to the consistently fast turns, there were a lot of places where things could have possibly went wrong, but instead, it all worked out perfectly.

Congratulations to Lindsay Benko, Natalie Coughlin, Rhi Jeffrey, Rachel Komisarz, Carly Piper, Kaitlin Sandeno and Dana Vollmer.

Go USA.

Comparative Splits