The swimming elite shows at the Asian Games and on the way to the Olympics how important the right race pacing, versatility and mental attitude are for success.
If you watch the big international swimming pools, you see far more than just pure strength and endurance. Current competitions, such as the Asian Games 2026 at the Tokyo Aquatics Centre or national events like the Hamburger Sprintcup, impressively show that swimming at the top level is a complex interplay of strategic race pacing, technical versatility and mental balance. These principles can be excellently transferred to your own training in the recreational sector.
A look at the results of the 400 metres individual medley at the Asian Games illustrates how crucial race pacing is. According to reports from SwimSwam, Japanese athletes Tomoyuki Matsushita and the only 17-year-old Yumeki Kojima fought a thrilling duel. Matsushita, who entered the race as the world number one, was ahead after the first two legs. But Kojima paced himself perfectly, ignited the turbo during the breaststroke and not only took the gold medal in 4:07.02 minutes, but also set a new world junior record.
Chinese backstroke swimmer Peng Xuwei also demonstrated masterful race pacing during her title defence over 200 metres backstroke in 2:05.77 minutes (a new Asian record). Her split times show a controlled first half and an extremely stable pace on the remaining lanes (50m: 29.66 / 100m: 31.44 / 150m: 32.18 / 200m: 32.49). If you start too fast, you pay dearly at the end – this applies to Olympic champions just as much as to recreational athletes.
The fact that versatility makes you extremely fast is proven by the relays and multi-event rankings. In the men's 4x100 metres medley relay, the Chinese team built around 100-metre freestyle world record holder Pan Zhanle (anchor leg time of 47.30 seconds) narrowly beat Japan and Korea, with all three nations shining with top times. This effect is also evident at the national level: at the Hamburger Sprintcup, Björn Kammann dominated the 4x100-metre challenge according to SWIM.DE, winning in butterfly, backstroke and freestyle, and even delivering a strong time in his secondary event, breaststroke.
For your own training, this means: leave the comfort zone of your favourite stroke. If you regularly train all four strokes, you not only improve your body position and coordination, but also set completely new muscle stimuli that ultimately benefit your main stroke as well.
How important the mental attitude is, is shown by the story of the exceptional South African athlete Tatjana Smith (née Schoenmaker). As reported by the BBC, her country's most successful Olympian surprisingly retired after the Paris 2024 Games because she had lost her love for the sport and felt like a "robot". After a two-year break, the 29-year-old is now returning with new energy, a new coaching team in Stellenbosch and a focus on the 50 metres breaststroke – because she wants to herself and has rediscovered her joy in the water.
The exceptional Chinese talent Yu Zidi, who dominated the 200 metres butterfly and the 200 metres individual medley at just 13 years of age, also spoke openly about the enormous pressure between school and competitive sports. Through the support of her environment and her role models like Li Bingjie, she found her way back to the realisation that swimming is an indispensable part of her life.
You do not have to swim Olympic times to train like the pros. Use these three golden rules for your next session in the indoor pool:
Your takeaway: Pace yourself deliberately on the first lanes to be able to step it up at the end – the best technique is useless if you run out of breath on the final metres.
This article was generated automatically with AI from the sources listed above and has not been editorially reviewed.