Quick answer
A final time hides the race. Splits are the times for each 25 or 50 of the race, and they show whether the first half was faster (positive split) or the second half was faster (negative split). In Gophin, open Times → Splits, pick the event and the race, and read the Splits, vs PB, Pace and Find time tabs. Official splits load on their own.
After a 100 Free, the question is rarely the 1:02. It is the two 50s. Went out in 29 and came home in 33? That is a different story from two even 31s. Parents hear "faded" when the first 50 was often the real problem. Why a swimmer slows down in the second half walks through that trap.
Positive Split, Negative Split, Even Pace
| Race | 1st 50 | 2nd 50 | Final | Pattern |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A | 29.00 | 33.00 | 1:02.00 | Positive split (out fast, came home slower) |
| B | 31.00 | 31.00 | 1:02.00 | Even pace |
| C | 31.50 | 30.50 | 1:02.00 | Negative split (second half faster) |
Same final time, three different races. In a 50 or a 100, coming home a little slower is common, because the first length includes the dive. What matters is whether the gap is big and whether the same pattern shows up race after race.
Where Splits Live in Gophin
- One race: in Times → Best Times or Times → Meets, open a swim to see its splits. In Meets, every result row of a meet can show splits too.
- The analysis: Times → Splits: the Splits tab of the Times screen, on a phone or a computer.
Read Splits in Times → Splits
- Pick the event. Choose the pool (SCM, LCM, SCY), stroke and distance. Only events with recorded splits appear. If the meet recorded both, you can choose how the race is cut, for example 4 × 25m or 2 × 50m.
- Pick the race. The most recent one with splits is a good start.
- Splits. The label says Positive split, Negative split or Even pace. In Splits vs race average, each bar is one split: green means at least 1% faster than the race's average split, red at least 1% slower, and a dashed line marks the average. Overlay last races puts several recent races on top of each other, so you can see whether the same split breaks down every time.
- vs PB. The selected race against the personal best, split by split: a cumulative time chart and the gap per split (race minus PB). It shows exactly where time was lost or gained.
- Pace. The fatigue index of the most recent race measures how much the last split slowed compared with the first. Lower is better, and negative means the swimmer accelerated. Evolution over time plots it race after race.
- Find time. Type a Target time (a cut, for example). Gophin shows the gap to target, the weakest split compared with a benchmark of swimmers of a similar age who swim close to that time, and a simulator where you drag any split to see the projected final time.
Sign in and open Times → Splits to see how your swimmer's last race was built.
What to Look For
- A big drop-off on one split, every race. That is a pattern worth showing the coach. One bad split in one race is not.
- The first split far faster than the others. Often the swimmer went out too hard, and the "fade" is the bill arriving.
- A falling fatigue index over the season. The swimmer is holding pace better, even if the final time has not moved yet.
- The weakest split in Find time. It tells you where the next cut is most likely to come from. The coach decides how to train it.
If a Race Is Missing
The meet probably did not record splits, or recorded only the final time. Try another race or distance. Official splits come from the meet's own results; you do not type them in. Full screenshots are in the Splits wiki guide.
Times → Splits is free, like the rest of Gophin. You only need to sign in.
