I am stupid and don't know what a mile is
NoelFigart
Lebanon, NHSenior Member
Several swims I have seen recommend one be able to swim a mile in under 35-40 minutes.
The FAQ on the SCAR swim is the only one to have defined it as a swimmer mile (1650 yards).
So, does that mean for swims like the Sharkfest that they're recommending that one be able to swim 1650 in 40 minutes or do they mean the 1740 yard kind? (I'd been training with the idea I'd have to hit that speed for a land mile).
If the first, I am closer to my goal than I thought....
The FAQ on the SCAR swim is the only one to have defined it as a swimmer mile (1650 yards).
So, does that mean for swims like the Sharkfest that they're recommending that one be able to swim 1650 in 40 minutes or do they mean the 1740 yard kind? (I'd been training with the idea I'd have to hit that speed for a land mile).
If the first, I am closer to my goal than I thought....
Comments
My feeling that most USA race directors are likely referring (without actually thinking about it that much) to the 1650 yard event, as that is the pool race that most Masters Swimming and age group pool competitors in the USA, can actually compete in.
Bottom line if the open water race is saying a mile in 40-minutes or less if you can do 1650 yards or 1500 meters in that time or less will be acceptable to most USA race directors. FYI - Many open water events make you put down a time in the application but it's mostly honor system.
It is comforting to know they probably mean the swimmer mile. Not too far from being able to do that now...
Race directors should specify (and many do) exactly what they mean, like "1650 scy pool time", so that they are comparing apples to apples.
It would be nice if everything was measured in meters.
It's always a bad hair day when you work at a pool.
I believe that statue miles are actually occasionally used with inland waterways, for example in some of the NOAA charts for the great lakes region. In any case distance is distance, regardless of the units you use (miles, kilometers, cubits ...). While race directors are certainly welcome to use nautical miles when giving the distance for an open water event (I think this would be fun), they should explicitly write out nautical mile (or NM or nmi) and not use 'mile' as a short hand for 'nautical mile' because they are two distinct units for distance and mixing the two is just a recipe for confusion.
I'm ignorant also with the nautical mile vs. land mile. However for such an aggressive swim, currents, rough water, cold, scariness, you probably should be under the longer distance with time to spare.
It may sound pedantic, but someone raised the question on fb and I was wondering if there was an answer.
Everyone will probably have their own definition of this, but I use the term "not long enough to bother getting wet for". If I can shower in less time than the swim took, it wasn't worth getting wet for.
When I did triathlons, I wouldn't bother with any race that had less than a half mile swim and at that, half a mile is a sprint. I won't waste my time going to a swim meet unless there's a 1650. I also have a thing about how far I'm willing to travel to swim, the swim distance needs to be proportional to the driving distance. An exception to that might be the significance of the race, like nationals or some other cool factor, like a sea monster. If I'm going to spend all day driving, it needs to be longer than 5K or there should be multiple races.
When it's hot and you need to cool off for a few minutes or when people do those polar bear plunges, where the hair stays dry, those are "dips".
It's always a bad hair day when you work at a pool.
Bruck, the question arose in relation to Lewis Pugh and his 5 Antarctica swims
I don't really get hung up on whether to call my day's distance a dip or a swim any more than when I run someone calls my pace jogging or running (as long as you don't have to call me injured). I only ask if it fulfilled what I wanted to achieve on any given day, whether 100 free or one mile or a bunch of miles. I do it for the joy of it. Call it what you will and pour me a pint afterward--all good!
I can vouch for here in the US, most of us do not think in Nautical miles. Last year we all kind of gasped at one swim when we realized it was measured in 8 nautical miles, meaning for the way that the majority thought the swim was actually more like 9 miles. Yes the swim was conceived of by an avid boater. As far as when is a swim a swim and not a dip....really? I recently had to do 3 sessions in a day due to time problems. The first one was only 16 minutes. It wasn't far but I tried to be fast and I counted it as a swim...
HollyT, I was one of those people who gasped, and I was doing a 4-person relay.
bluemermaid- are you doing it again this year? I tried the relay thing last year, and found that I'm not a team player (Oh such drama!) so I'm trying to get it done solo this year...We'll see about those jellyfish.
A mile is a mile in swimming, a nautical mile is for boating
My training was 5 miles in less than two hours. Sometimes twice a day.
Man, you're talkin' to a turtle and a a wanna-be. I'm faster than I was, but no, I'm never gonna be as good as that!
Early races in Lake Ontario had a "Molson Mile"... :-)
Labatts brewery sponsored the 10 mile race in Hamilton Ontario