The French swimming governing body (Fédération Française de Natation) recently released a data analysis booklet for each event from the Paris Olympics. This data-packed guide lists swimmers’ 25-meter times, time in the water, total strokes, and more in tables, along with detailed information about each finalist. Over the next few days, I’ll be choosing some of my favorite events from the Olympics and analyzing the data of the world’s fastest swimmers.
This gold mine of data is entirely in French and is divided into four sections. wrap (Division), Party Nager (I swam part of the race) Non-Nazi Party (The part of the race where you don’t swim, including the start, underwater, and finish) Movement (Total number of strokes, etc.).
Looking Back
Competition between Kayleigh McKeon and Regan Smith The race was provisionally settled at this year’s Olympics, with McKeon defending his 2021 title and winning in a time of 57.33 seconds. Smith, who came in second in the event with a time of 57.66 seconds, still holds the world record with a best time of 57.13 seconds. Katherine Berkoff Breaking the one minute barrier, he completed the podium with a bronze medal in 57.98 seconds. This race was one of the few in Olympic history to feature only four swimmers, with Australia, the United States, Canada and France sending two swimmers to the final. Here is how the swimmers performed:
- Kayleigh McKeonAustralia – 57.33
- Regan SmithUnited States – 57.66
- Katherine BerkoffUnited States – 57.98
- Kylie MasseCanada – 58.29
- Iona Anderson, Australia – 58.98
- Ingrid Wilm, Canada – 59.25
- Emma Terebo, France – 59.40
- Beryl GastaldelloFrance – 59.80
wrap (Split)
Opening 50:
- Smith/Masse – 28.02
- .
- Birkhoff – 28.05
- McKeon – 28.08
- Anderson – 28.47
- Wilm – 28.69
- Televo – 28.79
- Gastaldello – 28.80
End 50:
- McKeon – 29.25
- Smith – 29.64
- Birkhoff – 29.93
- Masse – 30.27
- Anderson – 30.51
- Wyrm – 30.56
- Televo – 30.61
- Gastaldello – 31.00
In most of these rankings, there seem to be two distinct groups of swimmers: McKeon, Smith, Berkoff, and Masse (those who finished 1st through 4th) in 1st place, and Anderson, Wilm, Terebo, and Gastaldello (those who finished 5th through 8th) in 2nd place. The first group all finished within a second of each other (McKeon 57.33, Masse 58.29), as did the second group (Anderson 58.98, Gastaldello 59.80). In the first group, all of the swimmers flipped at almost the same time, within .06 of a second of each other, but McKeon pulled away in the last 50 meters to win the race. His time in the last 50 meters matched up perfectly with his final race placement.
Smith ran the first 50 meters in nearly the same time he did when he broke the world record (27.94), but he lacked the late speed he showed at the U.S. Olympic Trials in June.
party (I swam part of the race.)
This section gives the swimmer’s time from 15m to 45m, and then from 65m to 95m, taking into account all times except start, turn and finish. The next ranking is the total time the swimmer spent “swimming”.
- McKeon – 36.81
- Smith – 37.20
- Anderson – 37.34
- Masse – 37.36
- Birkhoff – 37.39
- Televo – 37.44
- Wyrm – 37.73
- Gastaldello – 38.44
Generally, this portion of the analysis tends to reflect the swimmers’ rankings, without any surprises: the swimmer with the best combined “swim” and “non-swim” time wins the race. Kayleigh McKeonwas about 0.40 seconds faster. Regan Smith In the 60 meters of the race, it will be difficult for Smith to make up the difference with his underwater swimming and turns.
Non-Party Naje (Part of the race do not have Suum
This section focuses on the start, turns and finish of the race and includes reaction time, time spent in the water, distance travelled in the water, time to reach the 15m mark, finishing time for 5m, distance from the last stroke to the wall etc. The next ranking is the combined time taken from the start to the wall for 15m, 45-65m and 95m (measured in seconds).
- Smith – 20.46
- McKeon – 20.52
- Birkhoff – 20.59
- Masse – 20.93
- Gastaldello – 21.36
- Wyrm – 21.52
- Anderson – 21.64
- Televo – 21.96
McKeon, Smith and Berkoff performed well in both the swimming and support events. It was their starts, turns and underwater routines that set them apart from the rest and earned them a place on the podium. The difference between 1st and 8th place in both this event and the “swimming” events was roughly the same, but in the “non-swimming” events the distribution of places was much more fragmented. The athletes who made it onto the podium were clustered with Masse right behind them, which seemed to set them apart from the rest.
Total distance swam underwater (in meters):
- Smith – 30.2
- Birkhoff – 28.9
- Wilm – 27.9
- McKeon – 27.7
- Gastaldello – 26.8
- Masse – 26.7
- Anderson – 25.8
- Televo – 24.0
The American influence can also be seen in this part of the analysis: both Smith and Berkoff produced the best underwater times in the discipline thanks to their success in the SCY swims.
Distance and time since last stroke on the wall:
- Anderson – 0.21 meters, 0.13 seconds
- Wyrm – 0.28 meters, 0.17 seconds
- Televo – 0.54 meters, 0.33 seconds
- Smith – 0.56 meters, 0.34 seconds
- McKeon – 0.64 meters, 0.38 seconds
- Gastaldello – 0.75 meters, 0.46 seconds
- Masse – 0.83 meters, 0.51 seconds
- Berkoff – 1.27 meters, 0.80 seconds
Backstroke swimmers finish their races in different ways, some getting very close to the wall and others diving back into the water to finish. Ingrid Wilm and Iona Anderson both got very close to the wall before taking their final stroke, but Katherine Berkoff She sank 1.27 metres from the wall as she made her final stroke, finishing the race with a powerful kick, Smith and McKeown seemed to prefer the middle option, closer to the wall than Berkoff but slipperier than Anderson and Wilm.
Movement (stroke)
In this final section, we model the total strokes each swimmer took during the race, and the following rankings are given from most to least strokes taken.
- Berkoff/Anderson – 77
- .
- Smith/Terebo/Gastardello – 76
- .
- .
- Masse – 75
- McKeon – 70
- Wyrm – 66
Distance per stroke (max to min):
- Wilm – 1.092 metres per stroke
- McKeown – 1.033 metres per stroke
- Televo – 1,000 meters per stroke
- Gastaldello – 0.963 meters per stroke
- Mass – 0.977 meters per stroke
- Anderson – 0.964 metres per stroke
- Berkoff – 0.923 meters per stroke
- Smith – 0.918 metres per stroke
Contrasting Smith and Berkoff’s high stroke rate/low distance per stroke race plan with McKeon’s low stroke rate/high distance per stroke race plan again shows there are multiple paths to the podium. Ingrid Wilm, with an astonishingly low stroke rate of 66, was sandwiched (in both lane and position) between Anderson and Terebo, both of whom took at least 10 strokes more.
Unfortunately, the data doesn’t include any mention of kick rate, likely because it’s so difficult to get an accurate read on the exact amount of kick each swimmer produces. Even just watching the race footage, Smith and Berkoff generate a lot more white water than Terebo and Wilm.
For a breakdown of previous data, see the following article:
For more detailed information, please see this booklet.
