Critical Swim Speed (or CSS) is a measure of your lactate threshold without the need for invasive testing and is a great estimation of your swimming speed over a distance of 1000 to 1500m.
By improving your CSS pace you will swim faster and more efficiently at any distance above 400m. As such, we regularly monitor this marker with 2-3 x yearly CSS tests which involve swimmers in the squad doing a 400m and 200m Time Trial with about 5 to 8 minutes rest between each.
The calculation plots a line of regression (drop-off) in pace between the two distances and has been used in sports literature since the early 90s as a simple way of testing for the intensity at which a swimmer's physiology suddenly starts to accrue a massive amount of lactic acid. You can find out more about the CSS testing protocol here and also answers to some common queries about CSS testing here.