swimming laps

"Man o' Tea" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

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.

That actually makes sence, as I have always known that 2 lengths are 1 lap.

Micheal

In article <[email hidden]>,

King Frog said:

While we're at it, is a 'lap' one length of the pool or two?

That question comes up every once in a while here. There is no single
answer.

Some (but not all) of the people I've met with strong swimming
backgrounds used 'lap' to mean one length of the pool. Counsilman used
this meaning, but I don't think he originated it.

Most (virtually all) of the people I've met with running or other
non-swimming backgrounds used 'lap' to mean one round trip. That is, a
return trip back down the pool doesn't count as a second lap because
it's not going the same direction.

Quoted message said:

FINA seem to
use the word 'length' so as to no be confusing

I do the same, for the same reason.

Ross

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

FINA seem to use the word 'length'
so as to no be confusing

Quoted message said:

I do the same, for the same reason.

So do most sports commentators during televised swimming competition. A
200 meter race for example, is often referred to as a four length race
in a LC pool for the benefit of some uninitiated viewers.

SC

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

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

FINA seem to use the word 'length'
so as to no be confusing

Quoted message said:

I do the same, for the same reason.

So do most sports commentators during televised swimming competition. A
200 meter race for example, is often referred to as a four length race
in a LC pool for the benefit of some uninitiated viewers.

SC

My recollection is that the sporting commentators in Oz say, for example:
"he has two laps to go" meaning about 100m - not 200m. I don't think I have
ever heard 100metres referred to as a 'lap' nor 200m as 'two laps'. Also,
the 50m is often referred to a "lap dash" not as you tongue-in-cheek
suggested a half-lap race. On the other hand, they might also say in a
1500m event (most likely the only time it happens), "...Lane 4 has now
lapped Lane 8" meaning two lengths.

I had two others respond privately to me which I'll copy below, text only to
preserve their anonymity. It would seem therefore that technically a 'lap'
is two lengths and that we'd all be better off if we dropped the word 'lap'
altogether and in favour of "length". However, I feel sure that in
competitive swimming circles, 'lap' will continue to be used to mean - one
length.

"By definition, one lap is one complete circuit around a course (completing
one lap means you get to the place you started). In a pool, one complete
circuit is swimming to the wall and back, so one lap is two lengths of the
pool. The length of the pool is irrelevant."

Drew

"If you're sharing a lane, you'll swim like this:

/--<--<--<--<--<--<--\
\-->-->-->-->-->-->--/

If you imagine a "dead zone" between the directions of travel this
starts to look an awful lot like a running track. One lap = one full
circuit = 2 lengths.

(Why waste two good words for one concept anyway? "Length" is clear, and
"lap" should be some other useful thing that needs a name!)"

Dave

Quoted message said:

"By definition, one lap is one complete
circuit around a course (completing one
lap means you get to the place you
started).

Not for a 50 meter race in a 50 meter pool where starting and ending
places are at two different locations. So, again, is a 50 meter race a
one-lap race or a half-lap race? It certainly is a one-length race.

Quoted message said:

(Why waste two good words for one
concept anyway? "Length" is clear, and
"lap" should be some other useful thing
that needs a name!)"

No argument there.

SC

Maybe if Larry's gang-swimming idea takes hold, lap would have more
meaning.

On the other hand, if endless pools get more prevalent, length, lap and
distance will be archaic. You'll just swim a given amount of time.

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

Quoted message said:

However, I feel sure that in
competitive swimming circles, 'lap' will continue to be used to mean - one
length.

Your confidence in such a prediction (leaving aside for the moment the
assumption that the premise is correct) is excessive.

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

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

"By definition, one lap is one complete
circuit around a course (completing one
lap means you get to the place you
started).

Not for a 50 meter race in a 50 meter pool where starting and ending
places are at two different locations. So, again, is a 50 meter race a
one-lap race or a half-lap race? It certainly is a one-length race.

Not nessiarily....

If a 50 metre is in a 50 m pool, its a lenght race(in my definition), if its
in a 25 m pool, its a lap race.

Micheal

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

"By definition, one lap is one complete
circuit around a course (completing
one lap means you get to the place
you started).

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Not for a 50 meter race in a 50 meter
pool where starting and ending places
are at two different locations. So, again,
is a 50 meter race a one-lap race or a
half-lap race? It certainly is a
one-length race.

Quoted message said:

Not nessiarily....

Quoted message said:

If a 50 metre is in a 50 m pool, its a
lenght race(in my definition), if its in a 25
m pool, its a lap race.

Or, alternatively, a two-length race in a 25m pool.

Quoted message said:

I had two others respond privately to me which I'll copy below, text
only to preserve their anonymity. It would seem therefore that
technically a 'lap' is two lengths and that we'd all be better off if
we dropped the word 'lap' altogether and in favour of "length".
However, I feel sure that in competitive swimming circles, 'lap' will
continue to be used to mean - one length.

the use of the word "lap" is so ingrained in our language it is hard for
people to change. However, we all go to the LAP POOL to swim our
workouts. Some of us counts Lengths of the pool, some Laps, some
distance. But it has to be called a lap pool becuase you will rarely
see a swimmer jump in at one end, swim across and get from the other --
if they are swimming they come back to where they started.

Divers, water-polo players, and sync swimmers don't do that and at least
in my area they refer to those pools as "tanks" or wells.

Quoted message said:

"By definition, one lap is one complete circuit around a course
(completing one lap means you get to the place you started). In a
pool, one complete circuit is swimming to the wall and back, so one
lap is two lengths of the pool. The length of the pool is
irrelevant."

Exactly, without quantifying the length of the pool (15 yd hotel pool,
25 yd, 25m, 50m, etc) discussing lengths and laps has no meaning. When I
ocean swim I only normally do a single "lap", which would be out and
back either a to b and back to a, or sometimes triangulated a to b to c
and back to a. However that single lap might be 2.5 miles in length.

Steph said:

...the use of the word "lap" is so
ingrained in our language it is hard for
people to change. However, we all go to
the LAP POOL to swim our workouts.
Some of us counts Lengths of the pool,
some Laps, some distance. But it has to
be called a lap pool becuase you will
rarely see a swimmer jump in at one
end, swim across and get from the other
-- if they are swimming they come back
to where they started.

This may help clarify the use of the term "lap." Note the example 4 a:

Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary:

Main Entry: lap
Function: noun
1 a : the amount by which one object overlaps or projects beyond another
b : the part of an object that overlaps another
2 : a smoothing and polishing tool usually consisting of a piece of
wood, leather, felt, or soft metal in a special shape used with or
without an embedded abrasive
3 : a doubling or layering of a flexible substance (as fibers or paper)
4 a : the act or an instance of traversing a course (as a racing track
or swimming pool); also : the distance covered b : one segment of a
larger unit (as a journey) c : one complete turn (as of a rope around a
drum)

It doesn't necessarily define "lap" as a course having the same
beginning and ending locations.

SC