Hello! I'm a newcomer to swimming laps, and I'd like everyone's input on a debate I'm having with a friend who also swims.
What is technically a lap?
I say it's based on distance. If you're in a 25m pool - then a lap is down and back. If you are in a 50m pool - then a lap is the length of the pool one way.
He says a lap is the length of a pool.
Can someone solve this battle for us?
Thanks!
Former Member
Just as a side note, I ran track when I was younger, so maybe that's why I naturally think of a lap as up and back.
In track, a lap is when you go all the way around the track
Run Forrest run.
In swimming, without a doubt, eight laps is 200 yards in short course , 400 meters in long course, and never question this again.
Ok - this is also fueling a debate in my office - and we just came across this official definition via the USA Swimming official website.
Lap:One length of the course. Sometimes may also mean down and back (2 lengths) of the course.
So I guess that means everyone is right! :bliss:
Run Forrest run.
In swimming, without a doubt, eight laps is 200 yards in short course , 400 meters in long course, and never question this again.
Hey Magellan, navigate your way down to my next post where I said I understand that almost every swimmer associates a lap with a length, and that I use the term that way when in said company. Maybe Magellan isn't a good nickname, since he didn't finish his trip either.
No one from my team actually uses the terms "lap" or "length" during the workouts or even at the meets unless they are explaining things to someone new (e.g., explaining how far a 200 is, etc.). We don't say do two laps easy, we say do a 50 easy. As far as being a swimmer or not, I've heard them say "length" during the Olympics and Worlds plenty of times, yet I've never heard them say "lap".
On a side note, I just noticed that Grant Hackett retired. That sucks.
See, I've heard the swim team that practices while I'm swimming call out distances instead of laps, but where I grew up (the midwest), everyone taught us kids to swim "laps" and it meant down and back. I learned it worked like the following:
An olympic pool is 50m. A "lap" is 50m. If you are swimming in a pool that is, say, 25m - then a "lap" is down and back.
My friend has always believed that a "lap" is just down.
I'm sure that coaches and teams all over see things how it works for them. Not sure about the attitudes about noodlers vs swimmers - just thought it was an interesting topic to bring forth. I guess I'll be a noodler until someone alerts me I'm not anymore
:chug:
Please feel free to keep giving insight - I'm loving the responses....gives everyone here a good topic to continue to debate.
It is sheer folly to deny a difference between laps and lengths.
Length - simple, it is what it says, you go one way and finish at the opposite end of the pool. Noodles or otherwise.
Lap - you finish where you started - JUST LIKE TRACK -
Any difference in perception is only due to faulty coaching and probably green underwear.
Good answer:
"When you swim a 1650 in a race and you have someone count for you the lap counters count up to 66 laps not 33.
So if those plastic things we use to count say a 1650 is 66 laps it is 66 laps. Isn't that why we call them lap counters?"
the17thman.typepad.com/.../what-is-a-swim-lap.html
Good answer:
"When you swim a 1650 in a race and you have someone count for you the lap counters count up to 66 laps not 33.
So if those plastic things we use to count say a 1650 is 66 laps it is 66 laps. Isn't that why we call them lap counters?"
the17thman.typepad.com/.../what-is-a-swim-lap.html
Too funny. I've always wondered why they're called "lap cards" when they count lengths. :dunno:
