length = down
lap = down and back

So in a 25yd pool 1 length = 25yd, 1 lap = 50yd.

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Brian Stover USAT LII
Accelerate3 Coaching
Insta

To most swimmers:

lap = length = one way

To triathletes or recreational swimmers:

lap = 2 x length = return trip

The debate goes on and on and on....

Jodi

There is no definitive definition of what constitutes a lap in swimming, and the word lap never show up in any of the rule books.

So to avoid confusion, you either use length or describe the distance involved.

Oh no, not again!!!!!

http://forum.slowtwitch.com/...post=1263837#1263837

I think Lap vs Length might be the new clincher vs tubular...

Agree with Jodi. Lap or Length are both the same for swimming. As an analogy to running, on a 400m track, when you've run 400m you've done a lap. In a 25m pool, if you've swam 25m you've done a lap (or length). I've been swimming since I was 5 years old (23 years) and I've never heard a competitive swimmer saying they did laps and meaning more than one length of the pool at a time. Then again, most swimmers talk in yardage or meters swam, not # of back and forth lengths/laps.

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Geoffrey Nenninger

I'm sorry, we only take questions on farming.

This is really a debate? A "lap" is 50m, a "length" is 25m.

Before i moved to the states and started swimming in 25 yard pools i'd never heard of this before. Since i always swam in 50m pools, a lap was a length etc.

I don't think it's debatable (to me a lap gets you back where you started and a length gets you to the other end of the pool), but I didn't grow up swimming. I grew up running track, where a lap got me back to the start line, and anything else was a specific distance.... but lap vs length has been debated a few times on ST.

I saved this picture just for this debate, and what are the odds that the pictures aren't working at the same time this comes up.

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Mike

"So to avoid confusion, you either use length or describe the distance involved."

That might work except are you really going to call the guy keeping track of your laps at the end of the pool and holding up the sign with the number of laps you've done, "length counters"?

A lap is once AROUND a course or circuit. It is not point to point. One length of a pool is point to point. It is not a lap. Two lengths of a pool is considered a lap by some people. If some swimmers don't like, or understand, the term lap, why don't they come up with a new term specifically for this and solve the problem once and for all :)

Greg.

ST isn't an authority on farming, http://forums2.gardenweb.com/forums/farmlife/ is. Some interesting topics too. Anyway, I really only expected two or three answers saying the same thing and then thought it would die. Didn't realize so many people could reiterate the same thing. Thanks to all who answered. You opened my eyes to seeing it a different way. Even though most of the replies were in favor of how I originally saw it, the opposing answers explained their sides well and in a way I haven't heard before so it helped. Thanks! (rhetorical question) Is it still a length if its swam in a 61' pool?

THREAD CLOSED!
(unless you have something insightful to add that hasn't been already said)

In my experience lap is only ever used in swimming to describe what happens when one person passes another person and is then either (or a further) 50m ahead in a 25m pool or 100m ahead in a 50m pool. ie greg lapped mike in a 30 minute test (ie he was ahead of mike and then caught up to him again).

That's the definative answer.
The guy counting laps for a distance swimmer and the placard that gets dipped in the water are "lap counters." The placard counts by twos. So, 2 lenghts = 2 laps.

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Teach a man to cycle and he will realize fishing is stupid and boring. –Desmond Tutu

From the American Heritage Dictionary (online, not the real one!):

1. One complete round or circuit, especially of a racetrack.
2. One complete length of a straight course, as of a swimming pool.

:)

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Geoffrey Nenninger

I had a much different and harsh response written out, but in thinking about it, even though I swam for 20 years, the last few at what you can call an international level, it isn't that clear I guess. I always have gone by that a lap = length, there is no difference. By your definition, 'A lap is once AROUND a course or circuit' once around a pool is to the other end. Thats it, you have swam the entire distance. So to me a lap and a length is the same. But when you catch someone you have 'lapped' them, meaning you are 2 laps, I mean lengths ahead of them. With that said, do you ever really say, "Yeah, I did 178 laps today."? Why not just say it in yards/meters.

Ok, I am going to go poo and think about this about this for a few minutes. Then I am going to read my playboy and forget all about this, umm....what are we talking about again?

+1

Holy crap! According to that dictionary, a lap can mean almost anything. I didn't realize a word could have so many meanings. Obviously I've been out of school for a while. So now Im thinking that a lot more words have multiple meanings. I guess that's part of the reason people don't seem to communicate as well anymore. Thank God we have plenty of Lawyers to clarify everything for us nowadays :)

Greg.

I'm always confused about this too.

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Tom Demerly
The Tri Shop.com

Regardless of the correct answer, Dave, I'm glad to see you've switched gears and turned your mind to swimming--at least you can't get lost or too far off course in a swimming pool. For that reason, you might want to recommend that three of your buddies take up swimming, too. :)

Jim

http://tinypic.com/...?pic=339ka4n&s=3

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Mike

That's funny! Where is it, Kansas?

One would normally think that a lap is two lengths, especially when considering that we all circle swim when there are three or more in a lane. With circle swimming, you can really think of it as a lap. However, common sense is not applied here. In the U.S., swimmers, when they are not counting in yards or meters, refer to lengths and laps as equal.