What is considered a lap in the pool. up the lane or up and down the lane?

Question

What is considered a lap in the pool. up the lane or up and down the lane?

Answer 1

That is the question many people have - is a lap back and forth or just one length? If you have been watching the Olympics, when the swimmers were competing in the 400 IM, the announcer mentioned that the competitors had to swim 8 laps to complete the race. Since they are swimming in a 50 meter pool, a lap is the same as a length - getting from one end to the other. Others will say that a lap is returning to the side from which you began (similar to running on a track - a lap is completed when the runner completes a circuit) but generally in professional swimming, a lap is the same an a length which is either 25 or 50 meters depending upon the size of the pool.

Answer 2

Its up and down buddy; sorry.  Its tough as h**l I know, especially in an olympic sized one but, that is the way it is.  For swimming, you want to combine cals with pliometric training and yoga, the cals in particular being the Navy SEAL workout, as those cals are designed specifically for swimmers, in addition, meditation and lung expansion exercises, which Kyuzo Mifune outlines in his "Cannon of Judo."  The lung expansion exercises of Judo, can be very useful to swimmers I think.

Answer 3

One lap is the length of the pool, just down it. The length is 25m.  

Answer 4

A lap of a track is from where you start to where you started.  Therefore, when applied to a pool that is 25 yds long, a lap would be 50 yds and a length is 25 yds.