Calories are a measurement of how much energy you expend to complete an activity. However, measuring your calorie burn when swimming isn't as simple as knowing the distance you've swum. Time, intensity and your individual physique all play a part in the calculation. You can calculate your approximate calorie burn if you keep track of your time in the water, how hard you are working and know how much you weigh.
Time
Swimming 3/4 of a mile can take some swimmers an hour. Other swimmers will swim that distance in half the time. To determine how many calories you've burned, track the clock when you get in and when you get out. On average, a 160-lb. person uses 511 calories to swim laps for one hour.
Intensity
Intensity is another factors that comes into play when determine your caloric expenditure. If you've swum quickly, or vigorously, your heart rate level increases and you burn more calories. If you're swimming gently, using a kickboard to support your upper body and meandering down the lane, you won't burn as many calories as if you're swimming with intent, focusing on the swim and not resting between laps. On average, if you swim laps using mainly a freestyle stroke, you burn about 510 calories per hour if you weigh 154 lbs.
Body Weight
Body weight plays a significant role in how much energy expenditure it takes you to swim. The more you weigh, the more energy it takes to propel you down the lane. Swimming an hour requires 637 calories for a person weighing 200 lbs. and 763 calories for a person weighing 240 lbs.
Considerations
Combine the intensity, time and your body weight to calculate how many calories you burn in a 3/4-mile swim. If it takes you about an hour, the calculation may be easier and many scientific calorie measurements are gauged at the 1- hour or 1/2-hour mark. If it takes you less than an hour, calculate based on the hour measurement as a base. For example, if it takes a 160-lb. person 45 minutes to swim 3/4 of a mile, use 75 percent of the 511 calorie estimate for an hour to equal 383.5 calories.
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