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TL;DR: A 100 yard time and a 100 metre time are not the same swim: 100 metres is 109.4 yards, and a 25 metre pool has fewer walls than a 25 yard pool for the same event. The converter below turns any time in short course yards, short course metres or long course metres into the equivalent in the other two, shows the distance effect and the turn effect separately, and gives your pace per 100. As a rule of thumb, a 1:00.0 100 free in yards is about 1:05.62 in a 25m pool and 1:07.62 long course.
Swim Time Converter
Advanced: seconds gained per turn
Default depends on stroke: freestyle 1.0, backstroke 0.9, breaststroke 1.3, butterfly 1.0. Set it to 0 to see the pure distance conversion.
Conversions between courses are estimates. Two things change the time: the distance (100 yards is 91.44 metres) and the number of walls (a 25-pool has twice as many turns as a 50-pool, and each turn is worth a fraction of a second). We show both.
Why swim times change between yards and metres
Two separate things are going on when you convert a swim time, and most converters hide both.
1. The distance is different. One yard is 0.9144 metres, so 100 yards is 91.44 metres and 100 metres is 109.36 yards. Swimming at exactly the same speed, the 100 metres takes 9.4 percent longer. A 1:00.0 100 yards is a 1:05.6 100 metres before you account for anything else.
2. The number of walls is different. Every turn is a chance to push off, which is faster than swimming. A 100 in a 25 yard pool has three turns; in a 25 metre pool it also has three; in a 50 metre pool it has one. Fewer turns means slower, which is why long course times are always slower than short course times for the same distance in metres.
How much is a turn worth? It depends on the swimmer and the stroke. A good freestyle turn with a streamlined push-off gains roughly a second over swimming the same distance; breaststroke, with its underwater pull-out, gains more; backstroke a little less. The converter uses 1.0 second per wall for freestyle by default, and you can change it in the advanced setting. Set it to zero and you see the pure distance conversion.
So converting a 100 free from yards to long course metres means adding about 9.4 percent for distance and then adding time for the two turns you no longer get. That’s what the converter does, and it shows you each part.
Which events match across courses
Yards and metres events don’t line up exactly, which is why your 500 free has no direct 500 metre equivalent. The standard pairings, and what the converter uses:
| Short course yards | Metres (SCM and LCM) | Distance difference |
|---|---|---|
| 50 yd | 50 m | 50 m is 9.4% longer |
| 100 yd | 100 m | 100 m is 9.4% longer |
| 200 yd | 200 m | 200 m is 9.4% longer |
| 500 yd | 400 m | 400 m is 12.5% shorter (457 m vs 400 m) |
| 1000 yd | 800 m | 800 m is 12.5% shorter (914 m vs 800 m) |
| 1650 yd | 1500 m | 1500 m is 0.6% shorter (1,509 m vs 1,500 m) |
The 1650, the “swimmer’s mile”, is almost exactly 1500 metres, which is why those two convert so cleanly. The 500 and the 400 are the awkward pair: a 500 yard swim is 57 metres longer than a 400, so a 400 LCM time is usually faster in absolute terms than your 500 SCY time even though the pool is twice as long.
100 freestyle conversion table
Freestyle, using the default 1.0 second per turn. Your swim will differ; use the tool above for your own time and stroke.
| 100 yd (SCY) | 100 m short course | 100 m long course |
|---|---|---|
| 55.00 | 1:00.15 | 1:02.15 |
| 1:00.00 | 1:05.62 | 1:07.62 |
| 1:05.00 | 1:11.08 | 1:13.08 |
| 1:10.00 | 1:16.55 | 1:18.55 |
| 1:15.00 | 1:22.02 | 1:24.02 |
| 1:20.00 | 1:27.49 | 1:29.49 |
| 1:30.00 | 1:38.43 | 1:40.43 |
| 1:40.00 | 1:49.36 | 1:51.36 |
| 1:50.00 | 2:00.30 | 2:02.30 |
| 2:00.00 | 2:11.23 | 2:13.23 |
| 2:15.00 | 2:27.64 | 2:29.64 |
| 2:30.00 | 2:44.04 | 2:46.04 |
500 free to 400 free conversion table
| 500 yd (SCY) | 400 m short course | 400 m long course |
|---|---|---|
| 5:00.00 | 4:26.47 | 4:34.47 |
| 5:30.00 | 4:52.71 | 5:00.71 |
| 6:00.00 | 5:18.96 | 5:26.96 |
| 6:30.00 | 5:45.21 | 5:53.21 |
| 7:00.00 | 6:11.45 | 6:19.45 |
| 8:00.00 | 7:03.95 | 7:11.95 |
| 9:00.00 | 7:56.44 | 8:04.44 |
| 10:00.00 | 8:48.93 | 8:56.93 |
If you’re looking for pace rather than a race time, the swim pace calculator turns any distance and time into pace per 100 in both units.
Quick distance conversions
- 25 yards = 22.86 metres. A 25 yard pool is about 2.1 metres shorter than a 25 metre pool.
- 25 metres = 27.34 yards.
- 100 metres = 109.36 yards. 100 yards = 91.44 metres.
- 500 yards = 457.2 metres. 1,000 yards = 914.4 metres.
- 1,650 yards = 1,508.8 metres, about 94 percent of a true mile.
- 1 mile = 1,609.3 metres = 1,760 yards = 64.4 lengths of a 25m pool.
For laps-to-distance in any pool, use the swim distance converter; for the mile question specifically, how many laps is a mile.
How other converters do it
The converters swimmers use for meet entries apply a fixed conversion factor to each event, set by the governing body, so that every swimmer’s times are treated the same way. Those factors bundle the distance change and the turn effect into one number per event and stroke. If you need a time for an entry, use the converter your meet or federation specifies.
This tool is for training: it separates the distance from the turns so you can see where the time goes, lets you adjust the turn value to match your own skills, and gives you pace per 100 in both units so your sets make sense whatever pool you’re in that day. If your turns are costing you, our flip turn guide is where the free time is.
Frequently asked questions
How do you convert swim times from yards to metres?
Multiply by the distance ratio first: 100 metres is 109.36 yards, so the same speed takes 9.4 percent longer in metres. Then account for turns if the pool length changes: a 50 metre pool has half the walls of a 25, so long course times are slower again by roughly a second per missing turn, depending on stroke.
Is a 25 yard pool shorter than a 25 metre pool?
Yes. 25 yards is 22.86 metres, so a 25 yard pool is about 2.1 metres shorter. A 100 in a yards pool is 91.44 metres, about 9 percent shorter than 100 metres.
Why are long course times slower than short course?
Fewer turns. Each wall gives you a streamlined push-off that is faster than swimming, so a 25 metre pool with twice the walls of a 50 metre pool produces faster times for the same distance. Breaststroke benefits most from the extra walls because of the underwater pull-out.
What is the equivalent of a 500 free in metres?
The 400 metre freestyle is the standard equivalent event, even though 500 yards is 457 metres, so the distances are not the same. Convert by pace: your 500 yard pace per 100 metres applied to 400 metres, plus the turn adjustment if you are converting to long course.
Is the 1650 the same as a 1500?
Almost. 1,650 yards is 1,508.8 metres, so the two events are within 0.6 percent of each other in distance. The main difference between a 1650 SCY and a 1500 LCM time is the turns: 65 walls versus 29.
More swim calculators
- Swim Pace Calculator — pace per 100 for any distance and time
- Swim Distance Converter — laps to miles, metres and yards for any pool
- CSS Calculator — find your threshold pace from a 400/200 test
Converting the time is easy. Taking it down is what the Effortless Swimming membership is for.
