The French Swimming Federation has launched detailed statistics on all of the swimming finals on the Paris Olympics, and on this article, we are going to analyze the ladies’s 200-meter fly remaining.
The ladies’s 200 butterfly was the occasion of Summer time McIntosh‘s third medal. The race unfolded as anticipated, with a battle between the Canadian and the American Regan Smith, additionally challenged within the early phases by the Tokyo 2021 champion Zhang Yufei.
If I needed to give only one purpose why Summer time McIntosh gained the 200 butterfly in Paris, it will be as a result of the woman is aware of the golden imply, how you can stability. She skillfully managed her respiration, underwater work, and pace adjustments in line with her personal limits and sensations, with out over or underneath performing based mostly on exterior stimuli. Summer time’s victory demonstrated her nice sense of equilibrium and moderation.
From the graph under, you possibly can already see the important thing factors to research to know the aforementioned phrase. For instance:
- Excessive pace utilized by Zhang, which resulted in a pointy drop within the second quarter of the race.
- Summer time McIntosh‘s third lap, the one one to take care of the identical pace because the second 50 meters.
- The fixed pace adjustments close to the underwater phases of Regan Smith.
However let’s analyze it meter by meter
We’ll analyze the race by dividing it into two elements and specializing in sure particulars. Within the first half, we’ll take a look at the non-swimming actions like the beginning and the underwater phases. Within the second, we’ll deal with the swimming elements, the flip, and the end.
NON-SWIMMING PHASES
Begin
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- Regardless of the wonderful begin and underwater section of Regan Smith, the American didn’t obtain the best peak pace among the many three medalists, approaching the over water section with a pace of two.84 m/s.
Underwater
- The American swimmers by no means disappoint with regards to underwater phases; in reality, they have been the one ones to swim 50 meters underwater.
- Regan Smith coated 26.5% of the race underwater, Alex Shackell 24%, in comparison with Summer time McIntosh’s 18.5%.
- Regardless of this, essentially the most environment friendly underwater phases have been Summer time McIntosh‘s ones, who swam with a median of 1.95 m/s underwater, and Zhang Yufei with 1.96 m/s, in comparison with the 1.88 m/s of Regan Smith.
SWIMMING PHASES
45-Meter Standings
- Zhang Yufei 24.09
- Summer time McIntosh +0.33
- Regan Smith +0.59
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- Similar to within the 100m butterfly, Zhang Yufei emerges because the quickest within the early a part of the race. With a superb begin and underwater section, paired with a really reactive stroke, the Chinese language swimmer touches the wall first with a number of tenths of a second forward of her opponents.
- The drawback of the American swimmer Regan Smith is obvious, as she loses two extra tenths within the swimming section over simply 20 meters.
1st Flip and Push-off
65-Meter Standings (On the exit of the second underwater section)
- Zhang Yufei 42.53
- Summer time McIntosh +0.50
- Regan Smith +0.86
95-Meter Standings
- Zhang Yufei 55.67
- Summer time McIntosh +0.37
- Regan Smith +0.66
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- Because of her flip, the place she exits the underwater section with a pace of 1.73 m/s, quicker than her rivals, the Chinese language swimmer Zhang Yufei will increase her lead and reaches the midway mark of the second size with a half-second benefit.
- Nonetheless, throughout these 30 meters, it’s an proof that the Chinese language swimmer is beginning to lose pace considerably (that is graphically seen by following the blue line within the pic).
- By the 100-meter flags, her benefit has shrunk.
2nd Flip and Push-off
115-Meter Standings (On the exit of the third underwater section)
- Summer time McIntosh 1:08.15
- Zhang Yufei +0
- Regan Smith +0.28
125-Meter Standings
- Zhang Yufei 1:14.67
- Summer time McIntosh +0.12
- Regan Smith +0.52
145-Meter Standings
- Summer time McIntosh 1:27.64
- Zhang Yufei +0.08
- Regan Smith +0.45
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- The effectivity of the underwater section is not the identical for Zhang Yufei, who loses a tenth of a second simply between the flags and the flip; after which is particularly overtaken by Regan Smith through the underwater section.
- Within the first swimming section, as proven within the graph, Zhang tries to speed up once more and temporally takes the lead; nonetheless, it’s clear that these have been her final reserves of power.
- By the point she reaches the ultimate flip, the Chinese language swimmer is fading, and Summer time McIntosh strikes forward with a 0.66-s benefit.
Ultimate Flip and Push-off
165-Meter Standings (On the exit of the fourth underwater section)
- Summer time McIntosh 1:40.03
- Regan Smith +0.40
- Zhang Yufei +0.85
Within the remaining flip and underwater section, Regan Smith sees the advantages of her highly effective underwater swimming, masking 13.22m underwater and simply overtaking the Chinese language swimmer, additionally slicing the hole to the Canadian in half.
Ultimate Section
195-Meter Standings
- Summer time McIntosh 1:59.83
- Regan Smith +0.91
- Zhang Yufei +2.03
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- The ultimate 30 meters, just like the final two laps, are unmatched by Summer time McIntosh. The 17-year-old, who knew when to attend and speed up, regained the tenths misplaced to the American, pulling nearly a second forward.
- Summer time’s pace between 165-195m is 1.52m/s.
- On the end, Regan Smith positive factors 0.1s on the champion, approaching the wall higher, in comparison with the “quick” end of Summer time McIntosh. In the meantime, the Chinese language swimmer Zhang Yufei had a for much longer method.
Ultimate Outcomes
- Summer time McIntosh 2:03.03 OR
- Regan Smith 2:03.84
- Zhang Yufei 2:05.09
Stroke and Respiratory Evaluation
- Summer time McIntosh’s stroke effectivity is considerably superior to her opponents (1.84m/stroke).
- Within the first lap, all three swimmers used the stroke cycle 1 head down – 1 respiration.
- From the second lap onwards, whereas Regan Smith continued with the identical cycle, Summer time McIntosh switched to the cycle 1 head down – 2 respiration.
- Zhang Yufei, however, breathed nearly each stroke, preserving her head down solely 3 or 4 instances per lap.
CONCLUSION
Wanting on the race total, it may be mentioned that Summer time McIntosh typically maintained a better pace than her opponents all through the race. The one level the place Regan Smith had a barely greater pace than the Canadian was between 75 and 95 meters. Nonetheless, the important thing to McIntosh’s victory and Olympic document was her administration of the third and fourth laps: she was the one swimmer to the touch and surpass the speeds maintained through the first two laps. Zhang Yufei swam in a short time till the primary a part of the third lap, however then struggled increasingly more within the final two laps.