Originally Posted by
bvfrompc
If a "real" swimmer yells in a forest, does anyone care?
1 lap = out and back, to 99% of the world who cares.
Yeah, the people who didn't swim competitively. Anyone who has swam on a team knows a lap is one length.
Personally, I swam in high school and college. NEVER in my time swimming did a coach or teammate call a lap "there and back."
The USA Swimming site indicates a lap is one length and also accounts that "sometimes" it is used to refer to "there and back." That 'sometimes' is accounting for situations like this where people who are ignorant about the sport term it incorrectly. Usually, the folks that look like they are drowning when doing a swim workout.
Run a search "what is one lap in a pool."
If you speak in yards, you will be better off anyway.