Is a "lap" in the pool one length, or is it down and back?

Depends on the length of a pool.

SameHereDude wrote:

Depends on the length of a pool.

and the shape.

Olympic-sized pool is one length, 'cuz it's f'in long. If it's the short, horizontal length (I'm talking the short side of a rectangle) I think that's usually 25 meters, so a lap would be a full circle.

An olympic sized pool is 50 meters.

So, none of you really know. I don't either but I believe it is down and back.

No DeBeers Wannabe wrote:

So, none of you really know. I don't either but I believe it is down and back.

Most "real" swimmers seem to say that a lap is down-and-back i.e. you end up where you started, as with a lap on a track.

However, they tend to talk about "lengths," rather than laps, to avoid exactly that confusion.

Unless I'm full of crap, which is also a strong possibility.

A lap of the pool (just like a lap of the track) returns you to your starting point (ie down and back). A length of a pool is just one way.

Also, an Olympic sized pool is 50m in length, while most pools used for high school, college, etc. competition is 25 meters in length. That doesn't change the definition of lap or length, but does change the number of laps or lengths required to go a certain distance.

Real Swimmers like Real Runners never use the term "lap" or "length."

You just swim a certain distance just like a track work-out.

8x400 on the 5:00

or

4x800 on the 10:00

Real swimmers like real runners know how many "laps or lengths" it is. Unless it is a mile (and then like runners swimmers rarely if ever do a true full mile).

Laps and lengths are for the jolly joggers and floaty floaters.

Lappers is right.

Lap and lengths are said only when you need to explain stuff to non swimmers who don't realize how long pools are. A lap is down and back. A length is just down. But when you say a lap most people will think that that means just down once without coming back. Because people are dumb like that.

I swam in highschool and it just varied from coach to coach, swimmer to swimmer. I always called a lap (in a 25 yard pool) to the other side and back. A lot of the other swimmers would call a lap the same as a length (25 yards). If the coach told us to do a lap, you had to know what that coach took it as.

100% positive its down and back doesnt matter the length!

is a lap on a 200 meter indoor track 400m because its shorter no...1 lap is 1 full circle no matter what

Is a lap of a track just to the opposite side, or is it to the opposite side and then back?

A lap in a pool is one length out and one length back. The notion that it depends on who you talk to, where the pool is, what shape it is, or how big it is, constitutes pure silliness.

Twelve people who say differently are a dozen clowns without makeup. Thirteen are a baker's dozen of clowns without makeup.

You're welcome.

Luke1393 wrote:

while most pools used for high school, college, etc. competition is 25 meters in length.

Wrong.

25 yards in length is most common.

Correctomont,most college indoor pools were built before that mass migration to metrics here in th USofA.

Lappers wrote:

Unless it is a mile (and then like runners swimmers rarely if ever do a true full mile).

.

Now we have "true" full miles to worry about. Saying full mile was not enough to convince people that the mile in question was in fact a mile, now we must add "true" to the mix.

I can't wait to see what we are calling a mile next month.

No, "lap" is vernacular and has come to mean both. It is never officially used. If you look in any swimming rules or handbook, they always use the term length to avoid any confusion. For example before a 200m or 200yd race, they would say 8 lengths of the pool for a short course race and 4 lengths of the pool for a long course race.

"Lap counters" are used in longer distance swim events, thus,

A lap Is one length of the pool no matter the length of the pool.

At USA swim competitions long distance races have "Lap Counters", a flip card of odd numbers. When the swimmer approaches the wall opposite the starting block wall for the first turn you show the number 1, then 3, etc. For a 500 Yard race there are 20 laps. For a 1000 yd race there are 40 laps to be swum/counted.

So 50 yards is 2 laps in a 25 yard pool. 25 Yard or 25 Meter pools are considered Short Course.

The Olympics are held in a Long Course meter pool which is 50 meters long.

One lap is 50 meters. So 400 meter freestyle has 8 laps, the 800 meter is 16 laps etc.

"Lap counters" are used in longer distance swim events, thus,

A lap Is one length of the pool no matter the length of the pool.

At USA swim competitions long distance races have "Lap Counters", a flip card of odd numbers. When the swimmer approaches the wall opposite the starting block wall for the first turn you show the number 1, then 3, etc. For a 500 Yard race there are 20 laps. For a 1000 yd race there are 40 laps to be swum/counted.

So 50 yards is 2 laps in a 25 yard pool. 25 Yard or 25 Meter pools are considered Short Course.

The Olympics are held in a Long Course meter pool which is 50 meters long.

One lap is 50 meters. So 400 meter freestyle has 8 laps, the 800 meter is 16 laps etc.