85% swim pace best for tri races

I agree with this article...mostly. I prefer a 90% effort myself. Really, isn't this just science confirming common sense? You can't go 95% of max heart rate  on the bike and expect to run well, either.  A good red-line effort for a sprint or olympic tri is probably 90% of max heart rate in very general terms.

Triathlete.com » Faster Swim Times May Not Lead To Faster Finish Times

Results concluded that with an exertion of 80-85 percent and 90-95 percent of maximum swimming intensity, athletes maintained faster cycle times. The overall triathlon time was faster with swimming at 80-85 percent than swimming with a 98-102 percent exertion. Additionally, when triathletes swam at maximum intensity, their stroke rates went up, so they were doing more work.

Therefore, researchers concluded that performing at a swimming intensity below that of a time trial effort significantly improves cycling and overall performance in a race.