Agreed. Also, when swimming long distances, a "lap" counter is used - and a 500 yard free is 20 "laps". Otherwise it would be length counter and it's not.

My dad always tried to correct me in the 'proper' use of lap (one round-trip) when I used in in a swimming context (2 laps = a 50)... I tried to explain to him that all the swimmers know what we mean, and if he's confused it just shows that he's not a swimmer. None of us swimmers have any trouble making the switch to counting full-circuit laps when we go to a track. It's just idiomatic, like other bits of jargon that are used peculiarly in a specific context.

I'll give you one practical bit of distinction that might resonate for a non-swimmer... if you count laps like a swimmer, then odds are always facing one way and evens returning the opposite direction so if you start to get fuzzy it's usually easier to catch it and correct it before you're off by 2, whereas if you count laps like a runner it's a lot easier to lose count when doing, say, 400s or longer... e.g., if you catch yourself coming off the turn at the shallow (starting) end and the count in your head is on 12, then you know right away you forgot to advance the count to 13 since 12 has to be facing the other way, whereas if you were counting by 'runners' laps and you start to doubt yourself on lap 6 you could be wrong for the whole lap and there's no way of catching it because it's the same in both directions.

The flipturns wisecrack is very telling... I don't know anyone who does flipturns (worth a crap at least) who still insists on counting laps like a non-swimmer. Maybe the non-swimmers should worry about that instead so they can pass the 'club' test instead of trying to convince swimmers our jargon is improper.

a stroke is "1" arm pull and not "2"

I think the problem, small though it is, stems from the use of a pre-defined word to describe something similar yet different. Almost a colloquialism, where the word is used in everyday speech but not correct in it's formal state.
The term lap comes from Old English 'lappen', refering to a piece of cloth that doubles back on itself, such as a lapel for example . This doubling back would also insinuate that a lap should be a return to source rather than just one way. The word lap, in English language, is used to describe a circuit. This would also include the out and back in a pool length. (Your own physical 'lap' is effectively where clothing - robes skirts etc, overlaps - hence the name lap)

However, the terminology has been taken and altered with regards to swimming, the Olympic Rules dictating that a lap is a single length of the pool.

Bearing in mind the generally accepted habit of altering the definition of words in the English language to use in a niche setting (i.e. Swimming) then I think the correct term should be 'Lap' for a single length of the pool.

Lap is not the correct term when looking at the English language but it is the correct term for it's niche role in relation to swimming when using the Olympic Rulebook as a standard. If you are using other standards then I guess that meaning applies.

As you can probably tell I looked up some of this, not previously being an expert in the word 'lap'.

Good share asshat.

As I've told several of the other idiots that did what you did, this isn't a poll, it's a discussion. Please don't go posting your opinion as fact.

Either post something thoughtful, or piss off.

As I've told several of the other idiots that did what you did, this isn't a poll, it's a discussion. Please don't go posting your opinion as fact.

Either post something thoughtful, or piss off.

If it is a discussion, then why are you dismissing people who you do not consider 'swimmers'. Again, I do not think swimming experience has any merit in the discussion of a words syntax. If Ryan Lochte or Michael Phelps used the word 'lap' in the non swimmer term, they would not be any slower. Personally, using lap as 2 lengths is easier to track but in Masters I know what they are referring to. Honestly your posts seem slightly inflammatory towards new swimmers.

So are you suggesting that using the term lap as equal to a length somehow makes you a better swimmer? I'm going to go on a stretch and say you're wrong.

Are you also going to tell us coconuts migrate?

You are wrong.

A lap (in any endever) must finish where it started.

Anyone who doesn't know this to be true is wrong. Absolutely 100% wrong.