Hubert Kos Rises In The 200 Back Finale And Overtakes Christou

The French Swimming Federation has released detailed statistics on all the swimming finals at the Paris Olympics, and in this article, we will analyze the women’s 200-meter back final.

• Keep track of all our Olympic breakdowns with the SwimSwam Tracker here.

The 200 backstroke was a race of surprises, with the podium looking completely different at the 165-meter mark compared to what we later saw on the final board.

Favorite Hubert Kos managed to secure gold, but was caught off guard by Greek swimmer Apostolos Christou, who led almost the entire race. There was also a fierce battle for bronze, with Swiss swimmer Roman Mityukov staying in the background until the last 20 meters. A race of strategies, risks, and heart-stopping moments for fans, all decided at the end. Just the way we like it.

From the chart below, we can already infer the points to analyze to understand the progress of the 200 backstroke. For example, we observe:

• The evident drop, the death of Christou in the final 30 meters (forgive me, I had to say it)
• The excellent turns and underwaters of the Greek swimmer and Kos, who maintain similar speeds in all those segments
• The progression of Mityukov, who almost displaced Christou from the second spot on the podium.

But Let’s analyze Meter by Meter

We will tackle the analysis by dividing the race into two parts and focusing on some details. In the first part, we find the non-swimming gestures, such as the start and underwater segments. In the second part, we focus on the swimming segments, the turn, and the finish.

NON-SWIMMING SEGMENTS

Start

The fastest reaction time among the medalists is that of Mityukov, but he does not gain much speed with the push and underwaters relative to Kos and Christou.

Christou, on the other hand, develops great speed with these actions and is the fastest out of the water with 2.75m/s.

Underwater Segments

• Hubert Kos, like most Americans and swimmers competing in the USA, has  excellent underwaters that he utilizes as much as possible. He covers 56.2 meters underwater, corresponding to 28.1% of his race.
• The French swimmer Mewen Tomac also swims around that figure underwater, reaching 56.8 meters and being the fastest among the lanes in three out of four underwater segments.

SWIMMING SEGMENTS

45-Meter Standings

1. Apostolos Christou 23.48
2. Peter Coetze +0.18
3. Hubert Kos +0.40
4. Roman Mityukov +0.42
5. Hugo Gonzalez +0.50

• In the first meters of the race, Apostolos Christou sets his pace, already presenting more than half a second advantage over the favorite Kos at the first turn.

1st Turn and Push Off the Wall

65-Meter Standings (At the Exit of the Second Underwater)

1. Apostolos Christou 33.64
2. Hubert Kos +0.61
3. Mewen Tomac +0.62
4. Hugo Gonzalez +0.80

95-Meter Standings

1. Apostolos Christou 52.08
2. Hugo Gonzalez +0.61
3. Hubert Kos +0.90
4. Roman Mityukov +0.98

• During the second lap, Christou extends his lead mainly due to an excellent turn and underwater, exiting with a speed of 2.15 m/s.
• Meanwhile, just behind, Kos, Tomac, Hugo Gonzalez, Pieter Coetze, and Mityukov battle it out, with Spain’s Gonzalez making significant gains while swimming.
• KOS loses some ground while swimming, although it’s interesting to note that his line (green) between 65 and 95m is the most straight of all. The Hungarian manages and is not intimidated by the others who are swimming faster.

2nd Turn and Push Off the Wall

115-Meter Standings (At the Exit of the Third Underwater)

1. Apostolos Christou 1:02.40
2. Hubert Kos +1.11
3. Hugo Gonzalez +1.32
4. Mewen Tomac +1.46
5. Pieter Coetze +1.76
6. Roman Mityukov +1.90

125-Meter Standings

1. Apostolos Christou 1:08.41
2. Hubert Kos +1.30
3. Hugo Gonzalez +1.61
4. Pieter Coetze +1.72
5. Mewen Tomac +1.83
6. Roman Mityukov +1.87

145-Meter Standings

1. Apostolos Christou 1:21.10
2. Hubert Kos +0.88
3. Pieter Coetze +1.32
4. Roman Mityukov +1.34
5. Hugo Gonzalez +1.35

• The Greek swimmer continues his march towards the top, showcasing once again an effective underwater that extends his lead over Kos to more than 1 second.
• The battle for third place continues, with Gonzalez starting to show signs of fatigue, losing precious hundredths, and South African Coetze making a comeback.
• Already between the middle of the third lap and the turn, the change in speed between Kos and Christou is observable. Looking at the graph, it is evident that the Greek swimmer is beginning to run out of energy, showing a significant decline, while the Hungarian is making a slight progression.

Final Turn and Push Off the Wall

165-Meter Standings (At the Exit of the Fourth Underwater)

1. Apostolos Christou 1:31.92
2. Hubert Kos +0.92
3. Pieter Coetze +1.52
4. Hugo Gonzalez +1.61
5. Roman Mityukov +1.62

• • Despite the looming fatigue, Apostolos Christou executes another better underwater than Hubert Kos, allowing him to maintain his nearly ONE-second lead up to the 165 meters.
  • The Greek is not the only one to perform a useful last underwater; Roman Mityukov starts his progression here, with a short but fast underwater segment, enabling him to gain significant speed for the final sprint.

Final Segment

195-Meter Standings

1. Hubert Kos 1:51.31
2. Apostolos Christou +0.45
3. Roman Mityukov +0.63
4. Mewen Tomac +1.07

• In the span of 30 meters, Apostolos Christou completely slows down, increases his arm frequency which loses effectiveness, and Hubert Kos swims this segment nearly 2 seconds faster.
• Roman Mityukov also benefits from the push of the last turn, and both he and the Hungarian reach the finishing flags at high speed (about 1.63 m/s, compared to the Greek’s 1.50 m/s).
• Christou’s wall touch is long, and he risks being overtaken by the Swiss swimmer, who gained about 0.2s in 5 meters.

PODIUM

1. Hubert Kos 1:54.26
2. Apostolos Christou 1:54.82
3. Roman Mityukov 1:54.85

Strokes Analysis

Stroke count axis on the left, indicated by the blue bars; Stroke rate axis on the right, indicated by each red line.

• As observed from the graphs, Roman Mityukov, due to his short underwaters and less efficient arm propulsion, used the most strokes. In total, there were 132 strokes, with an average frequency of 43.5 strokes/minute.
• Hubert Kos, on the other hand, had a stroke length of 2.46m, totaling 118 strokes, distributed evenly in the first part of the race and then significantly increasing the frequency towards the end.
• It’s worth noting that the Swiss swimmer is 1.8m tall compared to Kos’s 1.9m and Christou’s 1.98m.

CONCLUSION

The podium of this race demonstrates how excellent results can be achieved with completely different strategies, depending on one’s characteristics.

Apostolos Christou, being primarily a sprinter, went all out from the start, managing to maintain incredible speed until just a few meters from the finish line, where he had to pay the price.

Swiss swimmer Roman Mityukov opted for a strategic race, hiding for almost the entire race in the mix for third, fourth, and fifth places, developing a soft progression that culminated in a powerful finish thanks to the last turn, resulting in a bronze (and almost silver).

Finally, Hubert Kos, the new Olympic champion in this distance was not surprised by the pace set by the Greek, but instead swam his own race, maintaining impressive consistency without any drops in the swimming segments, and progressively improving until the final 30 meters, where he capitalized on his opponent’s fatigue.