What is a negative split?

[dsikes]

I see this off and on in the forums and do not know what it means. Thanks for any help.

[michaelb]

starting slowly at the beginning of a row and then going faster and faster. Your split refers to the time per 500m, and is generally the main thing displayed on the PM monitor. So if you start out at 2:20 minutes per 500m, then speed up to 2:15/500m, then 2:10/500m, and then finish at 2:05/500m, you are going faster and faster and your splits are going down, aka negative.

[tennstrike]

Negative splitting is when successive times for 500 meter splits are faster than preceding times, e.g. in a 2K piece, the first 500 meters are at a split time of 2:00, the next are at 1:59, the next are at 1:58 and the last 500 meters are at 1:57. The 2K is just an illustration; the same is true for any distance.

[dsikes]

Thanks. I gather this helps to avoid the inevitable fading at the end of a race, as well as increasing endurance.

[JohnBove]

Secretariat famously ran negative quarter-mile splits in winning the Kentucky Derby. Also the fastest time in the history of the race.

[PaulS]

Thanks. I gather this helps to avoid the inevitable fading at the end of a race, as well as increasing endurance.

Well, to the extent that it can be avoided. In any completely maximal effort, if you were still going faster coming into the finish, you theoretically were not quite at maximum output. i.e. When the cox asks for the "final ten", strokes 9 and 10 will likely be fading, if you trust your cox, and a maximal effort was required.

Negative splitting is also the opposite of "Fly and Die", another common strategy, at least until they learn better.

Simple reasoning: If you are going to fall off in pace by 5 seconds in the final 500m anyway, why not just row the first 500m 5 seconds slower, it will hurt a lot less, and likely help the eventual result. It also acts as a sort of "re-warm-up", since it's a rare occasion that we get to complete our warm-up and start our race just when we would like. That sitting around for several minutes, though it feels good, is not particularly good for race performance.

[ajohnston]

Another reason to negative split it is if you haven't pulled that piece in a while and your not sure where you stand. Say your pulling a 2k and your time is anywhere between 7:00-6:50. Going like:
1st 500: 1:47
2nd 500: 1:45
3rd 500: 1:45
4rd 500: 1:43

Lets you at worst pull a 7 as opposed to going out at a 1:42.5 which if you can't hold it is going to jack your time up to well above 7. Negative splitting is the way to guarantee a good time.