swimming laps

I've noticed at several websites that sell Swimming gear, they sell Lap
Counters that you either wear on your finger or wrist.

Personally, I don't keep track. I do it more by time. That lets me
concentrate on swimming well and sort of meditation once you get into
the groove of it.

Jim

If you are in a 25 yd pool, count 100's instead of laps. It's pretty
easy to keep track if you are on your first or second time back to the
wall. the second time is another 100. Then you don't have to count as
high.

If you aren't sure which yardage you are at (8 or 900?) take the lower
number. This will give you incentive to remember better in the future
:^)

Dave

Quoted message said:

If you are in a 25 yd pool, count 100's instead of laps. It's pretty
easy to keep track if you are on your first or second time back to

the

Quoted message said:

wall. the second time is another 100. Then you don't have to count

as

Quoted message said:

high.

If you aren't sure which yardage you are at (8 or 900?) take the

lower

Quoted message said:

number. This will give you incentive to remember better in the

future

Quoted message said:

:^)

Dave

if you have a clock on the wall you can see and you know your pace (for
example, 30 seconds per 25, 1 min per 50, etc). just keep your eye on
the clock as you do your turn. when doing anything longer than a 200 in
practice I do this all the time and it works like a champ.

"Micheal Artindale" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

If you are swimming lenths, how do you keep track of how many you have
done?

I find that after about 10-15 laps i loose count.

any suggestions?

Thanks,

Micheal

A wrist - stopwatch and time it.
for me, 3 mins @ 45sec per lap = 8 lengths
4 mins @ 48 sec lap = 10 lengths
and believe me, I KNOW the difference between 45s and 48s!
(45 will kill me in 1000m, 48s I can do all day. Well, 5000m plus anyway!)

so a time of 8.05 for example means I need to get a move on!

DB

Micheal Artindale said:

If you are swimming lenths, how do you keep track of how many you have done?

I find that after about 10-15 laps i loose count.

any suggestions?

Thanks,

Micheal

There are lap-counters that you can wear on your finger which are quite
cheap and widely available from say, Kiefer, and some sport watches also
have lap counting features.
Madelaine

"Micheal Artindale" <[email hidden]> wrote in
news:[email hidden]:

Quoted message said:

If you are swimming lenths, how do you keep track of how many you have
done?

I find that after about 10-15 laps i loose count.

any suggestions?

Thanks,

Micheal

I am concetrating on distance swimming, not faster shorter intervals.
I found at first i was counting 100's. But I have trouble concentrating
on just a single thought and would often begin to think about work,
kids, people two lanes down, etc. I couldn't remember if I was at 75 yds
or 125yds.

Counting laps didn't work for me either, since I would then forget it if
was 9 or 10 and I would repeat the entire 50 yard lap.

Again, becuase I am concentrating on distances it is the actual distance
I want to track. Counting by lengths reducing my margin of error; if I
am leaving the starting wall I am on an odd number (1,3,5,7....etc), and
if I am returning to the starting wall I am on an even number
(2,4,6,8,...etc.)
Generally I speak the length number to myself as I leave the wall. I
generally cross the length in about 15 strokes, so if I repeat it twice
or so while crossing I am good for the next turn to increment without
losing my place.
If I do lose my place, I back up to the last odd/even I am sure of.
since I say the number to myself a few times I am better able to recall
it.

Now when I do switch to sets, obviously it makes more sense to count in
those terms, say 10 x 75yd, I would count the 75's.

I take the concentration on counting as serisouly as the action of
getting into the water itself; it is a part of the meditative process
and the workout overall. The less I lose my place counting during the
workout the better rounded the workout IMHO. Exercise the body and the
brain.

"Micheal Artindale"

Quoted message said:

If you are swimming lenths, how do you keep track of how many you have
done?
I find that after about 10-15 laps i loose count.
any suggestions?
Thanks,

Micheal

I was a distance swimmer "back in the day", and seldom had trouble counting
because I was always focused on the big picture, meaning the total distance
that I was swimming. For example, if I was swimming a short course 1650, I
would break it up into 3x500, then the last 150. It's easy to count off the
100s till I finish the first 500, then I would mentally put that behind me
and start on the second 500, then the third, then the last 150.

Basically, decide how far you are going to go then subdivide it to make
counting easier, not to mention pace and race. If you are going to swim 40
lengths short course, then that's 1000 yards. Think of it as 3x300 followed
by a 100 or 5x200 or 2x500 whatever you find easier.

As you go along, you will find that you start challenging yourself to
improve the next 300, over the last or whatnot. Counting becomes almost
natural as you are focusing on the entirety of the distance and mentally
dividing it into manageable chunks.

I too find I lose count of my laps, so I created a breathing technique to help.
On the first lap I breath alternate left and right, the second lap I breath
right only, the third lap left only and the forth I breath twice on the left,
then switch to twice on the right. Then I count the sets: five breathing sets is
1M. This allows me to concentrate on technique and not which lap am I on. At
times, I change up, for example I swim stronger when breathing on the left, so
when I am tried and pushing the last 200, I might substitute a right breath lap
with the left breath lap. And, if I do lose count, I take the lower number as an
admonishment to not lose concentration.

Micheal Artindale said:

If you are swimming lenths, how do you keep track of how many you have done?

I find that after about 10-15 laps i loose count.

any suggestions?

Thanks,

Micheal

"Micheal Artindale" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

If you are swimming lenths, how do you keep track of how many you have
done?

I find that after about 10-15 laps i loose count.

any suggestions?

My health club offers beads on a string.

I use Rubber Bands and put them on my wrist.
For each round laps, I move one rubber band from right wrist to left wrist or
the other way around.

It will slow you down a bit when you move rubber band from one wrist to
another wrist.

I am not training for metals, but to exercise my body.

Also it is good for computing time vs distance.

On Tue, 8 Feb 2005 15:48:34 -0500, "Micheal Artindale"
<[email hidden]> wrote:

=>If you are swimming lenths, how do you keep track of how many you have done?
=>
=>I find that after about 10-15 laps i loose count.
=>
=>any suggestions?
=>
=>Thanks,
=>
=>Micheal
=>

Quoted message said:

If you are swimming lenths, how do you keep track of how many you

have done?

I count backwards and say the number after push-off. It works better
than forwards for me.

Also, I just swam my first mile at a swim meet (at the age of 40) and I
counted the 66 lengths by naming a film I liked from every year
starting at 1986 (Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home) and going backwards to
1921 (The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse) with each length. I ignored
the numbers held underwater. When I tried to look at them it just
confused me (Lap 40? No. This lap is Hitchcock's "Notorious"😉. It
worked, and gave me something pleasant to think about in the process.
Water-based movies were a bonus. 1968 was Burt Lancaster in "The
Swimmer" and 1954 was, of course, "The Creature From the Black Lagoon."

Rik

<[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

If you are swimming lenths, how do you keep track of how many you

have done?

I count backwards and say the number after push-off. It works better
than forwards for me.

Also, I just swam my first mile at a swim meet (at the age of 40) and I
counted the 66 lengths

Not quite a mile, if the pool was 25 yards; a bit more than one if it was 25
metres.

Quoted message said:

Not quite a mile, if the pool was 25 yards; a bit more than one if it

was 25

Quoted message said:

metres.

1650 yards, more accurately (which I've heard referred to as the
"swimming mile"😉. I also did a 500 later that same day.

Rik

[email hidden] wrote in news:1109345093.071907.312050
@f14g2000cwb.googlegroups.com:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Not quite a mile, if the pool was 25 yards; a bit more than one if it

was 25

Quoted message said:

metres.

1650 yards, more accurately (which I've heard referred to as the
"swimming mile"😉. I also did a 500 later that same day.

Rik

Heck Iwas happy to see lengths used properly instead of improper use of
"laps". A "swimming mile" is 1,609 meters -- hence the round-up to
"1650". Somewhere along the line they got lazy and made both yard and
meter events the same length without compensating the distance (does
that make sense?).

Anyway, a mile is 70.4 lengths, or 1,760 yards. But most consider the
mile to be 36 laps/ 72 lengths, or 1,800 yards, probably again becuase
of the comparison between metric and standard.
1800 yards is equal to 1,646 meters.

But we can discuss numbers all day long whiel doing kicks if you
like......

congrats on the performance and getting back in the swim, I have my own
similar story, though I have yet to return to triathlons, my swim times
are faster now than back in High School.

"Steph" <[email hidden]_CUT> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

A "swimming mile" is 1,609 meters

From where did you get this number?

In article <[email hidden]>,

jtaylor said:

"Steph" <[email hidden]_CUT> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

A "swimming mile" is 1,609 meters

From where did you get this number?

I seem to have missed the start of this thread, but this is easy.

A statute mile (the common mile) = 5280 feet = 1609.344 meters. A USA
Survey mile is 1609.3472 meters. A nautical mile is 1852 meters. There
is nothing specific about swimming in any of these.

A "swimming mile" (the distance event) is either 1500 meters, or 1650
yards, depending on what length pool you're using. The two are not
quite equal (1650 yards = 1508.76 meters), but they're intentionally
close.

Ross

In article said:

A statute mile (the common mile) = 5280 feet = 1609.344 meters. A USA
Survey mile is 1609.3472 meters. A nautical mile is 1852 meters. There

[snip]

Quoted message said:

A "swimming mile" (the distance event) is either 1500 meters, or 1650
yards, depending on what length pool you're using. The two are not

[snip]

confusing. that's why i prefer metric. :-)

regards,

Pam @ Home

Cort Furniture Rental and Honesty are two exclusive concepts.

"Ross Bogue" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

In article <[email hidden]>,

jtaylor said:

"Steph" <[email hidden]_CUT> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

A "swimming mile" is 1,609 meters

From where did you get this number?

I seem to have missed the start of this thread, but this is easy.

A statute mile (the common mile) = 5280 feet = 1609.344 meters. A USA
Survey mile is 1609.3472 meters. A nautical mile is 1852 meters. There
is nothing specific about swimming in any of these.

A "swimming mile" (the distance event) is either 1500 meters, or 1650
yards, depending on what length pool you're using. The two are not
quite equal (1650 yards = 1508.76 meters), but they're intentionally
close.

Ross

It's simple - if you're in a 50m pool, 1500m is 30 lengths. In a 55 yard
pool (the old imperial version of an Olympic pool), 30 lengths is 1650
yards - the closest you get to the equivalent of the Olympic event.

While we're at it, is a 'lap' one length of the pool or two? FINA seem to
use the word 'length' so as to no be confusing but some I hear say that a
'lap' is two lengths i.e. out and back to where you started as you would
running around a track or park. Most I have associated with consider a
'lap' to be one length. I think the change came with the proliferation of
the short course pools in my Country (Australia). A 'lap' when I grew up
was one length of a 55 yard pool - when 25m pools came in to being, a 'lap'
seem to be equated with swimming 50 metres. What does the panel have to say
on this matter?

KF

On the track, you 'lap' someone when you pass them, going a full extra
lap in the same time.

In a pool, you can't pass someone until you've swum two lengths
farther, so to me, two lengths make a lap.