My brother and I have had this ongoing debate as to what is a ‘lap’ and what is a ‘length’. I’ve searched around online (and don’t like what i’ve found) so i am turning to the wisdom that is ST. Can someone please definitively explain what is a lap and what is a length? Or are they the same thing?
length = down
lap = down and back
So in a 25yd pool 1 length = 25yd, 1 lap = 50yd.
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.
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.
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.
“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.
From the American Heritage Dictionary (online, not the real one!): One complete round or circuit, especially of a racetrack. One complete length of a straight course, as of a swimming pool.
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.