No 100 is an all-out sprint.
It depends on the type of swimmer, though. Someone who is a great 200 breaststroker might save energy for the finish to catch the sprinters. Someone who is a sprinter might touch at the 50 one second over their actual 50 time.
But I know some sprinters who like to back-half their 100 ***. Again, it depends.
It's like asking how to swim a 100 free. Some might recommend swimming it like Roland Schoeman, who flips at the 50 less than a second over his actual 50. Others might recommend swimming it like Ian Thorpe, who can even-split the race and win an Olympic medal.
You need to experiment. Find the pace that suits you so you have energy to go all-out the final 20 yards/meters without excruciating pain.
breastrokers tend to go out between 1/2 a second to full second slower than their all out 50 time
then their 2nd 50 is 2.5 - 3.5 seconds slower than their first 50
Like when Brendan Hansen went 52.01 he went out in 24.57 and came home in 27.44
27.44 - 24.57 = 2.87 diff
at the same meet when he broke the record in the 200 *** he went
1:51.74 25.27 53.59 (28.32) 1:22.59 (29.00) 1:51.74 (29.15)
so you don't want a lot of fade between your 2nd 3rd and 4th 50
the funny thing about *** and fly is there is such a thing as an easy speed gear, sometimes a swimmers do their first 50 of their 100 is very close to their all out 50, because they are loose and relaxed and not forcing their stroke
rather than rushing it as they try to sprint
ande
Ande has the orthodox answer. I find for myself my best times are when I go a little faster than easy speed. My fastest 100 M always seem to have a 4.5 sec drop off,while my best 200's are split more evenly. I find it hard to accelerate in a 100. If I don't go out fairly hard (but not all out)I'm sunk.
