SWOLF Score Calculator

SWOLF is defined as time in seconds plus stroke count for one length, so time and strokes contribute to the total in exactly the same way — anything that adds seconds without removing strokes adds directly to SWOLF. Since a higher SWOLF means less efficient (SWOLF works like golf, where lower is better), taking longer to cover the same length with the same number of strokes always makes your score worse, never better.

Yes, and for related but distinct reasons. SWOLF adds your stroke count directly to your time, so more strokes for the same length raises SWOLF exactly like more seconds would. Distance per Stroke, meanwhile, is pool length divided by strokes, so taking more strokes to cover the same distance spreads that distance over more strokes and lowers your Distance per Stroke — both outputs move against you when stroke count rises, which is exactly the inefficiency SWOLF is designed to penalize.

Your raw SWOLF Score is calculated only from the Time per Length and Strokes per Length you enter for a single length swim — Pool Length itself does not enter that formula, so two swimmers reporting the same time and stroke count get the same raw SWOLF regardless of which pool they're in. Pool Length instead feeds the separate 25m-Equivalent SWOLF output, which is exactly what you should use to fairly compare sessions swum in different pool lengths.

Neither — they carry identical weight. SWOLF is defined as time in seconds plus stroke count, so one second added to Time per Length changes the score by exactly the same amount as one stroke added to Strokes per Length. There's no hidden weighting favoring pace over stroke count or vice versa; improving either by the same numeric amount lowers SWOLF by the same amount.

A lower SWOLF means you're covering the length using less total time-plus-strokes, which usually reflects a longer, more efficient stroke that travels farther per pull rather than simply swimming faster by turning your arms over more. Many swimmers who focus on lowering SWOLF do it by consciously lengthening their stroke and improving their catch and glide, since cutting strokes without adding much time (or cutting time without adding strokes) is the fastest way to bring the number down.