Swim time converter: SCM, LCM and SCY.
Convert a swim time between a 25 m pool, a 50 m pool and a 25 yard pool, for every standard event, using the USA Swimming / Hy-Tek course factoring method.
Estimated 50 Free equivalent.
Estimated 50 Free equivalent.
Method: USA Swimming / Hy-Tek course factoring. This is an estimate from the USA Swimming / Hy-Tek factoring method, not an official equivalent time. Pools, starts and turns differ enough that a real swim can land a little either side of this number.
The maths behind the number.
Swimming is swum in three pool lengths: short course metres (SCM, 25 m, the standard Australian club pool), long course metres (LCM, 50 m, the Olympic distance) and short course yards (SCY, 25 yd, used in the USA and for recruiting times). A swimmer racing the same event in a shorter pool usually goes faster, because more wall turns mean more pushes off the wall and less open water to cover without one.
This tool uses the course conversion factoring method published by USA Swimming for Hy-Tek Meet Manager, the system behind most hand-timed and electronically timed meets. It applies a multiplying factor and, for most events, an additive adjustment, both set per stroke and distance from the published tables. Long freestyle events (400/500, 800/1000 and 1500/1650) use their own factor because the proportion of the race spent mid-pool versus turning is different again at distance.
For example, converting a 200 IM from 2:30.00 in a 25 yard pool to a 50 m pool applies a 1.11 multiplying factor plus a small fixed adjustment for the stroke and distance, landing at roughly 2:49.70. A 50 m freestyle of 25.00 in a 25 m pool converts to roughly 25.80 in a 50 m pool: slower, because there is one fewer wall to push off in the longer pool.
Treat every result as an estimate. It is genuinely useful for comparing a swimmer's times across different pools, working out a rough seed time for an unfamiliar course, or sanity-checking a recruiting time, but it is not an official equivalent time and clubs should not use it to set records or qualifying standards.
Swim time conversion questions
Is a converted time an official time?
No. A converted time is an estimate of what a swimmer might go in a different pool, not a result anyone swam. It cannot be submitted as an entry time, a qualifying time or a club record. Only a time actually swum, under proper timing, counts as official.
What is the difference between SCM, LCM and SCY?
SCM is short course metres, a 25 m pool. LCM is long course metres, a 50 m pool, the Olympic distance. SCY is short course yards, a 25 yard pool, used mainly in the USA and by Australian swimmers racing or being recruited there. More wall turns in a shorter pool generally means a faster time for the same swimmer.
Why are some freestyle events a different number in yards?
Freestyle's longer races are swum to round numbers in each unit: 400 m, 800 m and 1500 m in metres become 500, 1000 and 1650 yards in SCY. It is the same race, just measured out to a clean number in whichever unit the pool uses. Every other stroke and IM keep the same number in every course.
Why doesn't 100 IM have a long course time?
100 IM (25 m or 25 yd, one length of each stroke) isn't part of the long course program, so there is no 50 m pool equivalent to convert it to. This tool shows that plainly instead of making up a number.
How accurate is the conversion?
It uses the published USA Swimming / Hy-Tek factoring formulas, which are the industry-standard estimate. They are good for comparing a swimmer's times across pools or working out a rough seed time, but different swimmers lose or gain different amounts of time to extra walls, so a real swim can land a little either side of the estimate.
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