Swimming pace calculator
Your pace per 100 metres, which is how swimming is measured, plus your time per length and what you would do over other distances.
Your figures
Result
- Per 50 metres
- 1:00 /50 m
- Per length
- 0:30 /25 m
- Lengths swum
- 40.0
- Speed (m/s)
- 0.833
- In km/h
- 3.00
At that pace you would swim
| Distance | Time |
|---|---|
| 50 m | 1:00 |
| 100 m | 2:00 |
| 200 m | 4:00 |
| 400 m | 8:00 |
| 800 m | 16:00 |
| 1.500 m | 30:00 |
What we assume
- The pace is assumed constant across the whole distance.
- The equivalents at other distances assume the same pace, which is optimistic over long ones: swimming pace fades exactly like running pace.
- Stroke is not taken into account. The same effort gives very different times in freestyle, backstroke or breaststroke.
- Rest between sets and the extra turns in a short pool are not deducted.
How it is calculated
In swimming, pace is measured as time per 100 metres, the way running is measured per kilometre. It is the reference everyone at the pool uses.
pace = time / metres x 100
Time per length
This is the number you actually use in the water: it tells you when you should be touching the wall. In a 25 m pool at 2:00/100 m, every length is 30 seconds. Much easier to follow on the pace clock than a per-100 figure.
Careful with the equivalents
The table assumes you would hold the same pace over any distance, and you would not: nobody swims 1,500 at their 100 pace. Use it as a starting reference, not a prediction.
Short course and long course
A 25 m pool means twice the turns, and every push off the wall is free time. Short-course times are systematically faster than long-course ones, which is why records are kept separately.
An example
1,000 metres in 20:00 is 2:00 per 100 m: 40 lengths in a 25 m pool, touching the wall every 30 seconds. That is 0.833 m/s, or 3 km/h.
Frequently asked questions
What counts as a good pace?
It depends enormously on level and stroke. As a rough marker, holding under 2:00/100 m in freestyle is a comfortable regular-swimmer pace; under 1:30 starts to be quick for an amateur.
Why per 100 and not per kilometre?
Because pool sets are multiples of the pool length, and 100 is the natural unit: four lengths short course, two long course. A per-kilometre pace would be awkward to translate to the wall.
Does rest between sets count?
No. Enter swimming time only. If you include the rest, the pace you get is a session average, which is a different and much slower number.
Keep calculating
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