Kinematic Tactics in the Women's 800 m Freestyle Swimming Final at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games

Background: The purpose of this study was to obtain knowledge on tactics of long distance swimming at the highest women professional level. Material/Methods: Eight swimmers, finalists of 800 m distance of freestyle of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games were examined. The distribution of velocity of swimming for the entire distance based on 50 m segments was analyzed. Partial, halves and quarters velocity, speed indexes and linear and nonlinear regression equations were calculated. Results: It was revealed that better swimmers (placed 1-3) had their distribution of swimming as an ascending line and with very small difference between segmental velocity and that of the entire distance, while the rest of swimmers had a descending velocity line and a higher dispersion of partial values. Conclusions: High performance swimmers have to hold uniform velocity of movement with small dispersion along the entire distance of swimming.