Pacing

The best – and most surprising – way to swim a 400m? Aim to start a little slower than you think you should and build pace through it so you finish super strong.

This means you are not racing from the start – not starting the pain train too early – and are more likely to hold a strong pace throughout.

The swimmers in our fast lane did a building pace 400m. “Start relaxed and finish strong” was the simple instruction.

One of these swimmers swam a lifetime best tonight, and felt like he was coasting! Another, went a handful of seconds slower than his best ever time (which he did last week) but said it felt too easy … and questioned the length of the pool! Another swimmer took more than 20 seconds off her 400m TT time from a few months ago.

How was this?

As well as being quicker swimmers than they were a few months ago, the athletes paced it perfectly. The lead swimmer went out in a 1.25 for the first 100m and finished on a 1.20 for the last 100m. Perfect.

Next time you swim a 400m give this a try. You might surprise yourself!