How do you convert SCY to LCM swim times?

Multiply the yards time by 1.11 to account for the longer distance, then add a turn value for each turn you lose in the 50-meter pool — 0.8 seconds per turn for freestyle and IM, 0.6 for backstroke, 1.0 for breaststroke and 0.7 for butterfly. A 100 free swum in 50.00 yards becomes 50.00 × 1.11 + 2 × 0.8 = 57.10 in long course.

What is the 1.11 swim conversion factor?

It is the standard ratio between a yards time and a short course meters time. 100 meters is 1.0936 times as far as 100 yards, and the extra 0.0164 allows for holding pace over the longer distance. Most meet software, and the high school conversion tables, use 1.11 or a value within a few thousandths of it.

Why does the 500 free convert to the 400?

Because the 500-yard freestyle is the yards event that plays the part of the 400-meter freestyle, just as the 1000 matches the 800 and the 1650 matches the 1500. They are different distances, so they use their own factors — 0.875 for 500 ↔ 400 and 1000 ↔ 800, and 1.006 for 1650 ↔ 1500 — rather than 1.11.

Is short course meters faster than long course meters?

Yes, for the same swimmer and distance. A 25-meter pool has twice as many walls, and each turn gives a push-off and underwater phase that is faster than swimming. A 100 in short course meters has three turns against one in long course, which is worth about 1.6 seconds in freestyle.

How do I convert a 1650 yard time to a 1500 meter time?

Multiply by 1.006 and add the turns lost going to a 50-meter pool. A 1650 has 65 turns and a long course 1500 has 29, so freestyle adds 36 × 0.8 = 28.8 seconds. An 18:00.00 1650 converts to 1080 × 1.006 + 28.8 = 1115.28 seconds, or 18:35.28 long course.

How accurate are swim time conversions?

They are good averages, not predictions for one swimmer. A strong turner loses more than the standard turn value going to long course, and a swimmer with weak walls loses less. Treat a converted time as within about one percent, and closer to a guide than a guarantee in distance events.

Why do different swim time converters give different answers?

Because there is no single official table. Some tools use one multiplier for every event, some use Colorado Timing's factors, and high school and college associations publish their own. This converter uses the Hy-Tek defaults — 1.11 plus stroke turn values — which is what most US club meet software applies to entry times.

Swim Time Converter: SCY to LCM, SCM and Back

A 100 freestyle in a 25-yard pool and a 100 freestyle in a 50-meter pool are different races. The meter race is about 9% longer, and it has two fewer walls to push off. So a yards time can’t be turned into a long course time with a simple unit conversion; you need a distance factor and a turn adjustment. This converter does both, using the defaults most US club meet software applies.

Swim time conversion formula: long course time equals yards time times 1.11 plus turns lost times the turn value — Yards to long course meters: distance factor, then turns

How swim times are converted

There are three pools in competitive swimming: short course yards (SCY, 25 yards), short course meters (SCM, 25 meters) and long course meters (LCM, 50 meters). Two things change between them.

The distance. A meter is longer than a yard, so every yards time is multiplied by a factor to get a meters time. For the standard events that factor is 1.11. The distance freestyle events pair up differently — the 500 yards stands in for the 400 meters, the 1000 for the 800, and the 1650 for the 1500 — so they get their own factors.

The turns. Every wall is a push-off and a streamlined glide, which is faster than swimming. A 25-meter pool has twice as many walls as a 50-meter one, so a long course swim loses time for every turn it doesn’t get. Each turn is given a fixed value by stroke:

Stroke	Seconds per turn
Freestyle	0.8
Backstroke	0.6
Breaststroke	1.0
Butterfly	0.7
Individual medley	0.8

Putting it together, a yards time converts to long course like this:

where is the turn value for the stroke and Δturns is how many more turns the yards race has than the long course race. Going the other way, from long course to yards, you take the turns off first and then divide by the factor. Between yards and short course meters there are no turns to adjust — the pools are the same length — so only the factor applies.

The number of turns in a race is simply the number of lengths minus one. A 100 in a 25-yard or 25-meter pool is four lengths and three turns; in a 50-meter pool it is two lengths and one turn.

Diagram of a 100 race in a 25-yard, 25-meter and 50-meter pool showing four lengths and three turns in the short pools and two lengths and one turn in the long pool — The same 100 race in each pool — the long course swim gets two fewer turns

Worked example: 100 free, 50.00 in yards to long course

The calculator’s default: a 100 freestyle swum in 50.00 seconds in a 25-yard pool.

Step 1 — distance factor.

That is the short course meters equivalent.

Step 2 — turns. The yards race had 3 turns; a long course 100 has 1. Freestyle turns are worth 0.8 seconds each:

Step 3 — add them.

So a 50.00 in yards is roughly a 57.10 in a long course pool. A plain “multiply by 1.11” converter would say 55.50, which is really the short course meters time, not long course.

Going the other way: 100 breast, 1:10.00 long course to yards

Take off the turns first — breaststroke turns are worth 1.0 second, and there are two fewer in long course — then divide by the factor:

That’s a 1:01.26 in yards.

A distance event: 800 long course to 1000 yards

An 800 freestyle in 11:40.89 long course has 15 turns; a 1000 in yards has 39. Take off 24 turns at 0.8 seconds, then divide by the distance factor of 0.875:

or 12:59.07 for the 1000 yards. This is the example Hy-Tek uses to document its own method, so it’s a good check that the converter follows it.

Swim Time Converter worked example diagram — A visual read of the worked example above — the same numbers the calculator returns for its default inputs.

Quick reference: 100 freestyle

SCY	SCM	LCM
45.00	49.95	51.55
50.00	55.50	57.10
55.00	1:01.05	1:02.65
1:00.00	1:06.60	1:08.20
1:05.00	1:12.15	1:13.75

Distance event factors

Yards event	Meters event	Factor (yards → meters)
500 free	400 free	0.875
1000 free	800 free	0.875
1650 free	1500 free	1.006
All other events	same distance	1.11

For long course, the turn difference is counted against the yards race, so a 500 yards (19 turns) against a long course 400 (7 turns) adds 12 turns’ worth.

How much to trust a converted time

A conversion gives the time an average swimmer would be expected to post, and real swimmers aren’t average. Sprinters with fast underwater work lose more than the standard turn value moving to long course, while swimmers with weak walls often convert up better than the table says. Distance events drift the most, because pacing over 1500 meters is not just a longer 1650.

Use a converted time for seeding, goal-setting and checking whether a cut is realistic. Many meets accept converted times only in specific cases, so check the meet information before you enter one.

Common mistakes

Using 1.11 for long course. That gives the short course meters time. Long course also needs the turn adjustment.
Converting the 500 as a 500. It pairs with the 400 meters, using 0.875, not 1.11.
Adding turns in the wrong order. Going to a slower pool, apply the factor first, then add turns; coming back, remove turns first.
Using the wrong stroke. Breaststroke turns are worth more than backstroke turns, so the same time converts differently.

For another way to track training, the strength level calculator rates your gym lifts against bodyweight standards.

Sources and assumptions

This calculator assumes:

Conversions use the standard yards-to-meters factors and turn allowances used by meet software.
Converted times are estimates; actual swims vary with pool, turns and conditions.

Sources:

Hy-Tek Team Manager course conversion defaults, Hy-Tek Sports Software

Figures last reviewed: 5 October 2026. Educational estimates, not professional advice.

About the formula: Yards and short course meters convert with a factor of 1.11 (0.875 for 500 yd ↔ 400 m and 1000 yd ↔ 800 m, 1.006 for 1650 yd ↔ 1500 m). Short course and long course differ by a turn value for every extra turn — 0.8 s free and IM, 0.6 s back, 1.0 s breast, 0.7 s fly. Going to a slower pool, the factor is applied first and the turns added; going the other way, the turns come off first.

Swim Time Converter