Pacing accuracy during an incremental step test in adolescent swimmers

To assess pacing accuracy in a group of adolescent swimmers during an incremental step test. Fifteen well-trained swimmers (age 15±1.5 years; height 170.2±8.8 cm; mass 60.2±6.6 kg), completed two 7×200 m tests, separated by ~72 hours. They swam to a predetermined incrementally increasing pace per step and were instructed to swim at even pace. Upon completion of each step, rating of perceived exertion, heart rate and blood lactate were recorded. Significant differences observed for both trials between actual and predicted swim time (P<0.05). Significant differences also observed between the first and second 100 m of each step in trial 1 for step 1 (P=0.001, effect size [ES] =0.54), step 2 (P=0.0001, ES =0.57), step 4 (P=0.0001, ES =0.53), step 5 (P=0.005, ES =0.65), step 6 (P=0.0001, ES =0.50), and step 7 (P=0.0001, ES =0.70). Similar responses witnessed for trial 2 (P