Quick Dip: How Do I Work Out My Swim Time?
Updated: Sep 25
A short read for the car journey
Category: Pace Clock & Lane Skills | Read time: Under 2 minutes
Your swim time is the time between pushing off and finishing. Remember your starting number and use the same coloured hand to check your finish.
Finish properly: touch the wall, then check the clock straight away. Avoid slowing down or lifting your head early to look.
For a swim lasting less than a minute, here is an example.
You leave when the hand points to 10. You finish when it points to 45.
Forty-five minus ten is thirty-five. Your swim time is 35 seconds.
What if the hand passes the top?
Suppose you start on 50 and finish on 20.
From 50 to the top of the clock is 10 seconds.
From the top to 20 is another 20 seconds.
Ten seconds plus twenty seconds is thirty seconds. That is your swim time.
For longer swims, count each complete turn of the hand from your starting number back to that number. Each turn adds one minute. One complete turn from 50 back to 50, followed by another 30 seconds to 20, gives a time of 1 minute 30 seconds.
The finishing number alone cannot tell you your time.
Begin by checking one short swim with your coach. Reading the clock gives you a useful training time, but it may differ slightly from their stopwatch.
Ask your coach: Can we compare the time I worked out with the time you recorded?
Created by Basingstoke Bluefins Coaching Team
