73 Pacing behavior development in adolescent swimmers 4 first lap. The relatively faster initial 50m could be the result of an improved race start, including the dive and underwater phase. Alternatively, it has been established that in tasks of similar duration to the 100m freestyle event, better-performing athletes differentiated themselves by a relatively more all-out pacing behavior (Hanon & Gajer, 2009; De Koning et al., 1999). De Koning et al. (1999) proposed that for shorter events (<2min), the advantage of a higher velocity in the first part of an exercise task and the lower amount of kinetic energy left at the end of the race, outweighed the disadvantage of higher frictional losses associated with the higher average velocity (De Koning et al., 1999), which was further evidenced through modelling studies in speed skating and track cycling (Hettinga et al., 2011; Hettinga et al., 2012), though differences between sports were visible (Stoter et al., 2016). Indeed, elite swimmers competing in the 100m freestyle finals of international events exhibited an all-out pacing behavior, comparable to the one found in the current study (Robertson et al., 2009). Moreover, it was reported that elite male swimmers adopted a more all-out pacing behavior (RST50m: 47.91%, RST100m: 52.09%) compared to female swimmers (RST 50m: 48.29%, RST100m: 51.77%) (Robertson et al., 2009). These findings are supported by the results of the present study, as adolescent male swimmers not only presented a more all-out pacing behavior, but also continued to develop this behavior with age. The reason behind the apparent difference in pacing behavior between male and female swimmers could potentially be found in the physical and physiological differences between male and female swimmers (Almeida et al., 2020). Alternatively, it has been reported that males engage more in risk-taking behavior and therefore are expected to generally adopt a more all-out pacing behavior (Micklewright et al., 2015). Contrary to the 100m event, older male and female swimmers adopt a relatively more even distribution of velocity in the 200m event. This is achieved by a relatively slower first and last 50m section and a relatively faster middle section. Swimming is a head-to-head type event, as the winner of a race is the swimmer who covers the given distance before the other swimmers, independent of the time set by swimmers in previous races (Menting et al., 2019a). Remarkably, the development of pacing behavior in swimming does not resemble that of other middle-distance head-to-head events, such as short-track speed skating. Studies in these events have reported that the athletes’ pacing behavior develops towards a more conservative start and middle section of the race to facilitate the athlete to position themselves well and be relatively faster in the key final stages of the race (Menting et al., 2020; Menting et al., 2019c; Menting et al., 2022). The development of pacing behavior in the 200m more resembles the one found in time-trials of a similar duration (Wiersma et al., 2017; Blasco-Lafarga et al., 2013; Sollie et al., 2021). This development is characterized by a shift towards a more even distribution of effort, which allows for a minimization of energy loss due to acceleration and deceleration, resulting in better performance in middle- and long-distance time-trial based events (De Koning et al., 2011). This resemblance to time-trials likely originates from the lane-based nature of competitive swimming (Menting
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