lap counting

Mark C said:

New swimmer. Have been using my running watch to count laps, but that takes stopping, or at least
wrecking your glide. I can't possibly keep a lap count correctly in my head through a long workout
when I'm also counting stokes, focusing on this or that stroke improvement, etc...

What do you do?

Do you think there's a market for a high-tech device of some sort to do it for you?

Mark

Why yes I believe there is market for it. You may want to check this out. kiefer-kiefer-Open ↗
.com/Kiefer/productr.asp?pf%5Fid=610100&gift=False&HSLB=False&mscssid=E48C4336BE6146F68B45B-
645174051B2

They also have a cheaper model here. Never used either but have been tempted. I'm afraid I may be
called a techno geek entering teh pool with the HR monitor and lap counter on though.

~Matt

I can't keep track of laps either. Here are two others that I was thinking about. It would seem to
me the smaller the better.

worldwideaquatics.comdefault.aspOpen ↗

montecitosports.comSpeedo.htmlOpen ↗

You should be able to get them for $19.95 USD. I am thinking of getting one. I am just swimming time
at the moment and don't know how far I am going yet.

Curt

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

Quoted message said:

New swimmer. Have been using my running watch to count laps, but that

takes

Quoted message said:

stopping, or at least wrecking your glide. I can't possibly keep a lap count correctly in my head
through a long workout when I'm also counting stokes, focusing on this or that stroke
improvement, etc...

What do you do?

Do you think there's a market for a high-tech device of some sort to do it for you?

Mark

Use a watch with stopwatch, and pay attention to the elapsed time. It's pretty easy to count laps by
keeping track of the time. E.g., if you hit 15 minutes and you average 1:30 per 100, you are at 1000
yds. You only need to pay enough attention to know that you aren't swimming way off of your normal
pace, and do a little simple math in your head. With a little practice, you can get a quick peek at
the watch without stopping whenever you turn.

Mark C said:

New swimmer. Have been using my running watch to count laps, but that takes stopping, or at least
wrecking your glide. I can't possibly keep a lap count correctly in my head through a long workout
when I'm also counting stokes, focusing on this or that stroke improvement, etc...

What do you do?

Do you think there's a market for a high-tech device of some sort to do it for you?

Mark

Mark C left this mess on Tue, 02 Sep 2003 17:59:10 GMT for The Way to clean up:

Quoted message said:

New swimmer. Have been using my running watch to count laps, but that takes stopping, or at least
wrecking your glide. I can't possibly keep a lap count correctly in my head through a long workout
when I'm also counting stokes, focusing on this or that stroke improvement, etc...

What do you do?

Do you think there's a market for a high-tech device of some sort to do it for you?

Yes.

We used to call them "fingers". Useful for opening cans of cat food as well.

If you're really intelligent, you can count off every other lap and then multiply by two.

Tao te Carl

"It takes a village to have an idiot." - Carl (c) 2003

"Mark C" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]... <snip>

Quoted message said:

Do you think there's a market for a high-tech device of some sort to do it for you?

<snip>

Yikes!!! I'm not touching this thread! :þ

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

Quoted message said:

Mark C said:

New swimmer. Have been using my running watch to count laps, but that

takes

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

stopping, or at least wrecking your glide. I can't possibly keep a lap count correctly in my head
through a long workout when I'm also counting stokes, focusing on this or that stroke
improvement, etc...

What do you do?

Do you think there's a market for a high-tech device of some sort to do

it

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

for you?

Mark

Why yes I believe there is market for it. You may want to check this out.

kiefer.comproductr.aspOpen ↗
se&mscssid=E48C4336BE6146F68B45B645174051B2

Quoted message said:

They also have a cheaper model here. Never used either but have been tempted. I'm afraid I may be
called a techno geek entering teh pool with the HR monitor and lap counter on though.

~Matt

I have one of those, found it to be impractical. I end up breaking my laps into counting sets. Like,
I learn that I don't usually forget what lap I'm on until I get past
5.So a 2000 is 4 sets of 5 laps.

Saturday I swam 1650 Yards in a 25 yard pool. That was 33+3 laps. So I counted a set of 3 first,
then a set of 10, two sets of 5 and another set of 10. I don't want to swim those 3 lonely laps at
the end. They felt much better as a warm-up 😉

10 laps can also be broken down into 4,3,2,1 laps. It's easier to keep track of it that way. 15 laps
is 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. 30 laps is that, done 2 times. 6, 5, 4, 3, 2 is 20 laps...

Little counting mental games.

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

Quoted message said:

Use a watch with stopwatch, and pay attention to the elapsed time. It's pretty easy to count laps
by keeping track of the time. E.g., if you hit 15 minutes and you average 1:30 per 100, you are at
1000 yds. You only need to pay enough attention to know that you aren't swimming way off of your
normal pace, and do a little simple math in your head. With a little practice, you can get a quick
peek at the watch without stopping whenever you turn.

I thought about this. I may give this a go like you stated and not spend the money on a counter. I
was thinking I would probably only use the counter once in a while when I felt my speed was
getting faster.

Curt

Oh, this makes all kinds of sense. I really have no business counting laps precisely when I'm in
danger of losing count, so a good estimate is fine anyway. On intervals, I can hit the watch button.

I'll work on my watch-glancing skills in turns after I figure out how to do a turn. :-)

I've read that people don't like wearing the finger thing. I was imagining a device that would set
up at the end of the lane and have a display big enough to be visible (perhaps under water), and
it'd sense your touches. I thought I might sic my retired inventor Dad on the idea. Though he'd
probably angle for a goggle-display. :-)

Mark (2500m exactly yesterday, hitting the damned watch button 50 times)

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

Quoted message said:

Use a watch with stopwatch, and pay attention to the elapsed time. It's pretty easy to count laps
by keeping track of the time. E.g., if you hit 15 minutes and you average 1:30 per 100, you are at
1000 yds. You only need to pay enough attention to know that you aren't swimming way off of your
normal pace, and do a little simple math in your head. With a little practice, you can get a quick
peek at the watch without stopping whenever you turn.

Mark C said:

New swimmer. Have been using my running watch to count laps, but that

takes

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

stopping, or at least wrecking your glide. I can't possibly keep a lap count correctly in my
head through a long workout when I'm also counting stokes, focusing on this or that stroke
improvement, etc...

What do you do?

Do you think there's a market for a high-tech device of some sort to do

it

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

for you?

Mark

Mark C said:

Oh, this makes all kinds of sense. I really have no business counting laps precisely when I'm
in danger of losing count, so a good estimate is fine anyway. On intervals, I can hit the
watch button.

In that case, just swim for a set period of time. Just count every now and then if you're checking
for trends.

--
Jason O'Rourke www.jor.com

Quoted message said:

I've read that people don't like wearing the finger thing. I was

imagining

Quoted message said:

a device that would set up at the end of the lane and have a display big enough to be visible
(perhaps under water), and it'd sense your touches.

It is hard to believe there isn't such a thing. I could have sworn I saw something like that a while
back, but I can't find it anymore.

Curt

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

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

I've read that people don't like wearing the finger thing. I was

imagining

Quoted message said:

a device that would set up at the end of the lane and have a display big enough to be visible
(perhaps under water), and it'd sense your touches.

It is hard to believe there isn't such a thing. I could have sworn I saw something like that a
while back, but I can't find it anymore.

Curt

I've seen something like that to accompany the Colorado timing system, but now you're talking very
expensive stuff.

de Valois said:

We used to call them "fingers". Useful for opening cans of cat food as well.

Although if you use them for opening cans you need to be careful to avoid the sharp edges -
otherwise there is a danger they will stop being useful for counting.

--
Chris Lambert (web.trout-fish.org.ukweb.trout-fish.org.ukOpen ↗) Calculating in binary code is as easy as 01,10,11.

Chris Lambert left this mess on Wed, 03 Sep 2003 13:28:49 +0100 for The Way to clean up:

Quoted message said:

de Valois said:

We used to call them "fingers". Useful for opening cans of cat food as well.

Although if you use them for opening cans you need to be careful to avoid the sharp edges -
otherwise there is a danger they will stop being useful for counting.

They roll the edges of the lids here in the States so that's less likely to happen.

Tao te Carl

"It takes a village to have an idiot." - Carl (c) 2003

DaKitty said:

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

Quoted message said:

Mark C said:

New swimmer. Have been using my running watch to count laps, but that

takes

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

stopping, or at least wrecking your glide. I can't possibly keep a lap count correctly in my
head through a long workout when I'm also counting stokes, focusing on this or that stroke
improvement, etc...

What do you do?

Do you think there's a market for a high-tech device of some sort to do

it

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

for you?

Mark

Why yes I believe there is market for it. You may want to check this out.

kiefer.comproductr.aspOpen ↗
se&mscssid=E48C4336BE6146F68B45B645174051B2

Quoted message said:

They also have a cheaper model here. Never used either but have been tempted. I'm afraid I may be
called a techno geek entering teh pool with the HR monitor and lap counter on though.

~Matt

I have one of those, found it to be impractical. I end up breaking my laps into counting sets.
Like, I learn that I don't usually forget what lap I'm on until I get past
5.So a 2000 is 4 sets of 5 laps.

Saturday I swam 1650 Yards in a 25 yard pool. That was 33+3 laps. So I counted a set of 3 first,
then a set of 10, two sets of 5 and another set of 10. I don't want to swim those 3 lonely laps at
the end. They felt much better as a warm-up 😉

10 laps can also be broken down into 4,3,2,1 laps. It's easier to keep track of it that way. 15
laps is 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. 30 laps is that, done 2 times. 6, 5, 4, 3, 2 is 20 laps...

Little counting mental games.

Counting doesn't seem to work for me. I end up paying attention to my stroke, glide off
the wall etc adn forget what lap I'm on. It's much easier for me to just remeber to
click something. I try to do this with my HR monitor but it's a bit difficult as it
takes both hands.

~Matt

DaKitty said:

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

Quoted message said:

Mark C said:

New swimmer. Have been using my running watch to count laps, but that

takes

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

stopping, or at least wrecking your glide. I can't possibly keep a lap count correctly in my
head through a long workout when I'm also counting stokes, focusing on this or that stroke
improvement, etc...

What do you do?

Do you think there's a market for a high-tech device of some sort to do

it

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

for you?

Mark

Why yes I believe there is market for it. You may want to check this out.

kiefer.comproductr.aspOpen ↗
se&mscssid=E48C4336BE6146F68B45B645174051B2

Quoted message said:

They also have a cheaper model here. Never used either but have been tempted. I'm afraid I may
be called a techno geek entering teh pool with the HR monitor and lap counter on though.

~Matt

I have one of those, found it to be impractical. I end up breaking my laps into counting sets.
Like, I learn that I don't usually forget what lap I'm on until I get past
5.So a 2000 is 4 sets of 5 laps.

Saturday I swam 1650 Yards in a 25 yard pool. That was 33+3 laps.

What do you mean by 33+3? If you count each 50 as a lap, it is only 33. Most of equate lap with
length, but I count 50s like you when I swim in a short course pool. Where does the extra 3
come from?

Quoted message said:

So I counted a set of 3 first, then a set of 10, two sets of 5 and another set of 10. I don't want
to swim those 3 lonely laps at the end. They felt much better as a warm-up 😉

10 laps can also be broken down into 4,3,2,1 laps. It's easier to keep track of it that way. 15
laps is 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. 30 laps is that, done 2 times. 6, 5, 4, 3, 2 is 20 laps...

Little counting mental games.

I subdivide into 500 yard/meter blocks and count each one to 10, so a 1650 would be 3X500 + 3X50. I
would count to 10 three times and then count to 3. Fortunately, we only have meters here.

martin

--
Martin Smith email: [email hidden] Vollsveien 9 tel. : +47 6783 1188
P.O. Box 482 mob. : +47 932 48 303 1327 Lysaker, Norway

As for the watch-glancing, I find it pretty easy to glance at the watch at the point where I am
extending my arms out to the glide position after a flip turn. depending on the watch and your
arm movement, you might also get a better view of the watch by turning it towards the inside of
your wrist.

Mark C said:

Oh, this makes all kinds of sense. I really have no business counting laps precisely when I'm
in danger of losing count, so a good estimate is fine anyway. On intervals, I can hit the
watch button.

I'll work on my watch-glancing skills in turns after I figure out how to do a turn. :-)

I've read that people don't like wearing the finger thing. I was imagining a device that would set
up at the end of the lane and have a display big enough to be visible (perhaps under water), and
it'd sense your touches. I thought I might sic my retired inventor Dad on the idea. Though he'd
probably angle for a goggle-display. :-)

Mark (2500m exactly yesterday, hitting the damned watch button 50 times)

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

Quoted message said:

Use a watch with stopwatch, and pay attention to the elapsed time. It's pretty easy to count
laps by keeping track of the time. E.g., if you hit 15 minutes and you average 1:30 per 100, you
are at 1000 yds. You only need to pay enough attention to know that you aren't swimming way off
of your normal pace, and do a little simple math in your head. With a little practice, you can
get a quick peek at the watch without stopping whenever you turn.

Mark C said:

New swimmer. Have been using my running watch to count laps, but that

takes

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

stopping, or at least wrecking your glide. I can't possibly keep a lap count correctly in my
head through a long workout when I'm also counting stokes, focusing on this or that stroke
improvement, etc...

What do you do?

Do you think there's a market for a high-tech device of some sort to do

it

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

for you?

Mark

"Martin W. Smith" <[email hidden]> wrote in message "]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

DaKitty said:

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

Quoted message said:

On Tue, 02 Sep 2003 17:59:10 GMT, "Mark C" <[email hidden]> wrote:

>New swimmer. Have been using my running watch to count laps, but

that

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

takes

Quoted message said:

>stopping, or at least wrecking your glide. I can't possibly keep a

lap

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

>count correctly in my head through a long workout when I'm also

counting

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

>stokes, focusing on this or that stroke improvement, etc...
>
>What do you do?
>
>Do you think there's a market for a high-tech device of some sort to

do

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

it

Quoted message said:

>for you?
>
>Mark

Why yes I believe there is market for it. You may want to check this out.

kiefer.comproductr.aspOpen ↗

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

se&mscssid=E48C4336BE6146F68B45B645174051B2

Quoted message said:

They also have a cheaper model here. Never used either but have been tempted. I'm afraid I may
be called a techno geek entering teh pool with the HR monitor and lap counter on though.

~Matt

I have one of those, found it to be impractical. I end up breaking my laps into counting sets.
Like, I learn that I don't usually forget what lap I'm on until I get

past

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

5.So a 2000 is 4 sets of 5 laps.

Saturday I swam 1650 Yards in a 25 yard pool. That was 33+3 laps.

What do you mean by 33+3? If you count each 50 as a lap, it is only 33. Most of equate lap with
length, but I count 50s like you when I swim in a short course pool. Where does the extra 3
come from?

33+3 was a typo, it's supposed to be 30+3, totaling 33.

A mile in a 25 yard pool is 1650 Yards. Up one side (25Y) and back down (total 50 yards) is what I
count as one lap. 33 of those make up 1650.

In a 50-Meter pool, I still count up and down as one lap (it's very easy when a lap is 100m), so a
1500m (also 1 mile) would have been 15 laps.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

So I counted a set of 3 first, then a set of 10, two sets of 5 and

another

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

set of 10. I don't want to swim those 3 lonely laps at the end. They felt much

better

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

as a warm-up 😉

10 laps can also be broken down into 4,3,2,1 laps. It's easier to keep

track

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

of it that way. 15 laps is 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. 30 laps is that, done 2 times. 6, 5, 4, 3, 2 is 20
laps...

Little counting mental games.

I subdivide into 500 yard/meter blocks and count each one to 10, so a 1650 would be 3X500 + 3X50.
I would count to 10 three times and then count to 3. Fortunately, we only have meters here.

martin

--
Martin Smith email: [email hidden] Vollsveien 9 tel. : +47 6783 1188
P.O. Box 482 mob. : +47 932 48 303 1327 Lysaker, Norway

Martin W. Smith said:

DaKitty said:

A mile in a 25 yard pool is 1650 Yards. Up one side (25Y) and back down (total 50 yards) is what
I count as one lap. 33 of those make up 1650.

It's not actually a mile, you know. A mile is 1760 yards.

but about 1630m, so perhaps kitty was thinking about a metric pool.

--
Jason O'Rourke www.jor.com

Yes, I do recall them to be very expensive. I don't know what it is, but I hate to count laps. I
could see using a finger lap counter now and again just to see how far you go in a certain time.
Just to check up on your progress and see if you can get you distance up in the hour swim.

Enjoy, Curt

"DaKitty" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:QFd5b.25528$S_.5063@fed1read01...

Quoted message said:

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

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

I've read that people don't like wearing the finger thing. I was

imagining

Quoted message said:

a device that would set up at the end of the lane and have a display

big

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

enough to be visible (perhaps under water), and it'd sense your

touches.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

It is hard to believe there isn't such a thing. I could have sworn I

saw

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

something like that a while back, but I can't find it anymore.

Curt

I've seen something like that to accompany the Colorado timing system, but now you're talking very
expensive stuff.