100 freestyle--how to split the 50s

One of the big questions I suspect a lot of us have is how to best split the 50s on the 100 as we get a bit older. Youngsters may be able to more or less all-out sprint the whole thing, but I find that if I go too fast upfront, I die so horribly on the second half, that it proves self-defeating. But if I go too slow at the outset, I can't make up the hole I've dug for myself. I have a teammate named Ronald, and we both swam last April at Y Masters Nationals. In a sense, we each adopted opposite strategies, and in this one race, at least, it seemed that the "don't go out too fast" strategy prevailed. If anyone is interested, please take a look at the following "analysis" of our respective races and let me know what your opinions are about how we might each go faster: 100 Freestyle analysis from Ft. Lauderdale 7 Jacobs, Ronald 38 South Hills-PA vs. 7 Thornton, James 49 South Hills-PA (For some reason, I can't get the following to break out in a table format, but the numbers are for Ronald first then Jim then the Difference in Ronald & Jim's 50 splits in parentheses. The difference for each swimmer's own first and second 50s are in brackets.) Ron Jim Difference between Ron and Jim 25.69 24.89 (-.80) 1st 50 26.38 27.57 (+1.19) 2nd 50 52.07 52.46 (+.39) total time * difference between 1st & 2nd 50 splits Possible conclusion: Jim went out too fast and could have done a better overall time by easing up slightly on the first half; the 2.68 second differential indicates some heavy duty dying went on in the second half Possible alternative conclusion: Ronald went out too slow and could have broken 52 with more upfront effort; a .69 second differential indicates he essentially negative split this 100, given that there is no dive for the second 50