Lap swimming makes calculating how far and how fast you swim a matter of simple arithmetic. Keeping up your motivation to improve technique and fitness is not as simple. Public pools offer adult swim classes or team workouts to help improve your skills.
Distance
Public pools typically are 25-yards-long or wide. You must swim a 25-yard length 40 times to completing 1,000 yards. You complete one lap by swimming one distance and then returning back, so you need to swim 20 laps in a 25-yard pool to complete a 1,000-yard workout.
Time Frame
How many calories you burn depends on how fast you swim and on how long you swim. When you swim at a leisurely pace of 25 yards per minute, you take one minute to swim one 25-yard length. Because 40 lengths make up 1,000 yards, you take 40 minutes to complete the workout. When you increase your pace to 50 yards per minute, you complete an entire lap in one minute. Since 20 laps equal 1,000 yards, you take 20 minutes to complete the 1000-yard distance.
Calories Used
When you swim a 25 yards-per-minute pace, you burn 275 calories per hour if you weigh 150 lbs., according to the American Heart Association. Dividing 275 by 60 results in approximately 4.6 calories burned per minute. Swimming the 40 minutes you need to complete the 1,000 yards burns 4.6 X 40, or approximately 183 calories.
When you swim at the faster pace of 50 yards per minute, you burn 500 calories per hour, according to the American Heart Association. You burn 500/60 or 8.3 calories per minute at that speed. Since the workout takes you 20 minutes to complete, you burn 8.3 X 20, or 166 calories.
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