Why is the mile swim 1650 and not 1750 which would be a little closer to the actual distance of 1760 yards=1 mile. Can anyone shed some light on this? Thank you.
Carl Selles
:banana:
Try this:
theswimmerscircle.com/.../
(But probably the governing body was the AAU - was USA Swimming around when the 1650 started showing up in the record books, around 1959 or the early 1960s?)
Thank you James. You've answered one of those questions that I've been searching for a long time. Finally, I can get a full night's sleep. lol
Carl:bliss::cheerleader::bed:
As a percentage of the time to swim the event, the 1650 and the 1500 are the closest "pair" of events. SCY to SCM converion of the 1650 to the 1500 to me is 1:1
The real question is why do we call it the mile? In 1988 I was playing junior trivial pursuit. The question was "How many yards are in a mile." I said "1650." Confidence shaken, 6 years later I was wait-listed at Harvard.
(all of the above is actually true)
Calling the 1500 or the 1650 "the mile" is merely a colloquialism. Neither race was ever meant to be a mile. They just happen to be in the ballpark of a mile, hence are casually referred to as such.
Could it be that there's some confusion between metric and imperial units? One mile is 1609 meters. In a 25 or 50 meter pool, the closest you would come would be either 1600 or 1650 meters.
In days of past, many "long course" pools were 55 yards, not 50 meters, and the 1500 in a 50 meter pool is 30 laps (down and back 15 times), and if you do the same in a 55 yard pool (30 laps-down and back 15 times) its 1650 yards.
Why is the mile swim 1650 and not 1750 which would be a little closer to the actual distance of 1760 yards=1 mile. Can anyone shed some light on this? Thank you.
Carl Selles
:banana:
