Olympics: Improving the Competition Strategy in Each Skill Technique of Elite Swimmers for the 400 meters Freestyle

Background. In swimming championships, strategy setting is considered to be the main factor, especially in the middle and long-distance events. Implementing a strategic change can indirectly affect the final results. Objectives. The study aimed to find out whether there were any significant differences in reaction time (RT), final time (FT), and strategy for each split time (ST) in the men’s and women’s 400 meters freestyle events at the Olympic Games held in Tokyo (2021), Rio de Janeiro (2016), and London (2012). Materials and methods. This study used quantitative methods with a sample size of 48 athletes. The data source included using the secondary data. Descriptive statistics are presented in the form of means and standard deviations. The Shapiro–Wilk test was used to test the normality of the data. To compare RT, FT, and ST data, the one-way ANOVA test was conducted. The linear regression test was used to determine the effect of RT on the first ST. Results. The findings of this study indicate that there were differences in the RT of male athletes during the 3 Olympics. The study also revealed variations in average speed. In general, swimmers accelerated their speed at ST1 and ST8. This occurred at the Tokyo 2021 and Rio de Janeiro 2016 Olympics, while at the London 2012 Olympics, swimmers accelerated their speed only at ST1. Additionally, the results demonstrated that RT had an influence of 0.381 (14 %) on the first ST in male athletes, whereas the influence in female athletes was less marked — 0.066 (4 %). Conclusions. This study concludes that ST1 and ST8 are the most crucial components in the 400 meters freestyle swimming for both male and female athletes. Coaches and athletes must be very careful in carrying out special training at the tapering stage so that athletes can achieve the right time to produce the best performance.