30 meter Sprint Times Revisited

I want to thank @TrackNation for pointing out some useful references.

It might be better to have all the references listed in a single page, instead of flipping back for forth to multiple pages.

The following are national norms for 16 to 19 year olds from the reference Physical Education and the Study of Sport: Text with CD-ROM

A 4.0 hand time or faster from the runner’s first movement is considered excellent.  For Females, 4.5 is excellent.

30 meter Fly times to 100m

First number 30m fly time (seconds), second number 100m time using blocks. (Add 1 second if you use blocks)

• 3.30 = 11.99
• 3.20 = 11.67
• 3.10 = 11.34
• 3.00 = 11.00
• 2.95 = 10.84
• 2.90 = 10.67
• 2.85 = 10.50
• 2.80 = 10.34
• 2.75 = 10.17
• 2.70 = 10.00
• 2.65 = 9.84

Elite Men’s 30 meter Split times

Just to put this in perspective, from above, world class elite sprinters go under 3.70 with blocks or about 2.70 with a running start.

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Frank Dick’s controls

from DEVELOPMENT OF MAXIMUM SPRINTING SPEED.  Click on image for slightly larger font.

USATF 2008 Olympic Trials Splits

From http://www.usatf.org/groups/Coaches/library/2008/Sprints/Sprint%20Development.pdf you can see the Women reach top speed at 50 meters, except for Lee (1st), Edwards (2nd) and Moore (8th), where it was 60 meters.   Elite men reach top speed at around 60 meters, with Tyson Gay and Usain Bolt reaching top speed at 65-70 meters.

I think the take home message is, these control tests are simply, well, control tests.

The best way to determine a 100 meter time is by running a 100 meters.