It's not clear whether lane placement affects results, but it's true that the middle lanes are often favored, and qualification systems tend to place better-per

It's not clear whether lane placement affects results, but it's true that the middle lanes are often favored, and qualification systems tend to place better-performing swimmers towards the middle. Here's two non-professional discussions on the matter: [1] https://www.quora.com/In-competitive-swimming-why-are-the-inner-lanes-3-4-and-5-usually-the-fastest-Do-better-swimmers-qualify-to-get-them-Is-there-an-advantage-And-if-so-how-is-that-fair https://www.quora.com/In-competitive-swimming-why-are-the-in... [2] http://sports.stackexchange.com/questions/1326/in-swimming-is-there-a-competitive-advantage-to-being-in-one-lane-or-another http://sports.stackexchange.com/questions/1326/in-swimming-i...