Swim Pace Calculator
Find your pace per 100 m and swimming speed.
Results update as you type.
How it works
Swim pace tells you how fast you are moving through the water, and this swim pace calculator converts a distance and a time into two useful figures: your pace per hundred metres and your speed in metres per second. Enter how far you swam in metres and how long it took in seconds, and it returns both instantly so you can judge and plan your sessions. Pace per hundred metres is the standard currency of swimming because pools and sets are measured in that unit, so expressing every swim the same way lets you compare a fifty-metre sprint against a fifteen-hundred-metre distance effort on equal terms. Triathletes and pool swimmers use it to set target splits, pace long swims evenly, and track whether their conditioning is improving from week to week. The calculation works because pace is simply time spread over distance, rescaled to a hundred-metre reference, while speed is the same information viewed as distance per second. Coaches use a swim pace calculator to write interval sets with realistic send-off times, and swimmers use it to check that a race pace is sustainable before committing to it on the day.
pace per 100 m = time ÷ distance × 100
Pace per hundred metres normalises your swim to a standard distance so different sessions compare fairly. Dividing your time by the distance gives seconds spent on each metre, and multiplying by one hundred scales that up to the time a full hundred-metre segment would take at the same rate. Speed is the inverse view, distance divided by time, showing how many metres you cover each second.
Source:Standard sports science
We review all our tools from time to time to ensure accuracy.
Worked example
How to use this calculator
- 1
Enter your values
Enter distance and time.
- 2
Adjust the options
Fine-tune any options to match your situation.
- 3
Read your result
Pace per 100 m updates instantly as you type — no button to press.
Frequently asked questions
Why is pace measured per 100 metres?
Swimming distances are almost always multiples of a pool length, and a hundred metres is a natural reference that most sets and races build on. Expressing every swim as seconds per hundred metres lets you compare efforts of different lengths directly, whether a short sprint or a long continuous swim. It also matches how coaches write send-off times, so your figure translates straight into practical set planning.
How do I convert my time into seconds?
The calculator expects your time in seconds, so convert any minutes first by multiplying them by sixty and adding the remaining seconds. A swim of one minute and thirty seconds becomes ninety seconds, and two minutes and fifteen seconds becomes one hundred and thirty-five seconds. Entering the raw minutes without converting would make your pace look far faster than it really is, so always total the seconds.
What is a good swimming pace?
A good pace depends on your level and the distance. Many recreational swimmers cover a hundred metres in around two minutes, competent club swimmers in roughly ninety seconds, and elite swimmers well under a minute over sprint distances. Rather than chasing a universal target, track your own pace over time; a falling seconds-per-hundred figure at the same effort is clear evidence your swimming is getting faster.
Does this work for both pool and open water?
Yes, as long as you know the distance and time accurately. In a pool the distance is fixed by the lane length, so it is easy to measure. In open water you need a GPS watch or a marked course to estimate distance, and currents or navigation errors can affect the result. The pace formula itself is identical; only the reliability of your distance measurement changes.
How is speed different from pace?
Speed and pace describe the same swim from opposite directions. Speed is distance divided by time, telling you how many metres you cover each second, so a higher number means faster. Pace is time divided by distance, telling you how long each hundred metres takes, so a lower number means faster. Swimmers usually talk in pace, while speed in metres per second is handy for physics and cross-sport comparison.