Swimming is a good aerobic exercise that tones your entire body. You burn more calories the faster you swim and the longer the distance you go. Swimming in a pool makes keeping track of the distance you swim easy.
Pool Dimensions
An "Olympic" size pool usually measures 50 m long. In Long course swimming, you swim the length of the pool. To complete one lap, you swim across the pool and come back again. In long course swimming, 16 laps equals one mile. You actually swim 32 lengths of the pool for one mile, as a lap equals two lengths.
Speed and Distance
How fast you swim determines how far you go in a given amount of time. A moderate lap swimmer keeps a distance pace of about 2 minutes for every 100 m completed. A mile is about 1600 m, or 16 laps in a 50 m pool. So, you complete a mile swim in 16 X 2, or 32 minutes.
Calories Burned
You burn nine calories per minute swimming if you weigh 140 lbs. so you burn 9 X 32, or 288 calories swimming one mile. If you weigh 180 lbs. you burn 11.6 calories per minute and 11.6 X 32, or approximately 371 calories per mile. The calories burned vary according to your exact weight and speed in the pool.
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