The longest race in international competitive swimming (in a pool) is 1500 meters. It is 0.93 of a mile and is often referred to colloquially as "the mile." In the U.S., swimmers also swim the 1650 yard freestyle, which is also sometimes called "the mile."
In open water, there is a 1 mile race, but the world records differ from venue to venue. Thus, records are typically specific to the place -- there is no 1 record for entire world.
For the 1500 meter freestyle:
The world record for the long-course (50 meter pool) men's 1500 meter freestyle was set at the 2012 London Olympics by the Chinese swimmer, Sun Yang, with a time of 14:31.02. That is an average time per 100 meters of 58.07 seconds.
The world record for the short course (25 meter pool) men's 1500 meter freestyle was set by Australian swimmer, Grant Hackett, at the 2001 Australian Short Course Championships in Perth, Australia. His time was 14:10.10, making his average time per 100 meters 56.7 seconds.
The world record for the long course (50 meter pool) women's 1500 meter freestyle was set by U.S. swimmer, Kate Ziegler, at the 2007 TYR Meet of Champions in Mission Viejo, CA. Her time was 15:42.54, making her average time per 100 meters 1:02.84.
The world record for the short course (25 meter pool) women's 1500 meter freestyle was set by Danish swimmer, Lotte Friis, at an unnamed 2009 local club meet in Copenhagen, Denmark. Her time was 15:28.65, making her average time per 100 meters 1:01.91.
An American man Charles F. Senk swam the fastest mile in 1878 in New York. His time was 12 minutes and 42 seconds. This is faster than the current record for 1500 meters which is closest distance to a mile competed for. Although it is 109 meters less than a mile which makes Charles achievement very significant.
There is no World Record for a mile in swimming, the closest event is the 1,500m. The current World Records for this are:
Male Grant Hackett 14minutes 34.56seconds (long course, i.e. 50m pool) Grant Hackett 14minutes 10.10seconds (short course, i.e. 25m pool)
Female Kate Ziegler 15minutes 42.54seconds (long course, i.e. 50m pool) Kate Ziegler 15minutes 32.90seconds (short course, i.e. 25m pool)
He takes 4 days to complete
The 1500 meter swim, which is approximately a mile, record is 14:34.56 by Grant Hackett from Australia. This record, along with other swimming records, can be found at- http://www.vilacom.net/swimming/men.php Actually, to approximate swimming a mile, one would have to swim 1609.34 meters -- that's 109.34 meters more than the 1500 meter swim or 2.19 more lengths of a 50 meter pool. (1 meter = 3.2808399 feet)
A statute mile is 5,280 feet long. It just SEEMS longer when you're trying to swim it. (A nautical mile is 6025 feet.)
There are 1,609.344 meters in a mile. When 1 length = 1 lap, you would need to complete 64.3 laps to swim a mile.
Lots of people can swim a mile at a very young age. I think I first swum 1 mile at the age of 6.
1/3 mile = 586.67 yards.
There are 5280 feet in a mile. In a 35 feet pool, you would need to swim 5280 / 35 = 151.43 lengths to constitute 1 mile.
1 mile per hour
I swam the mile yesterday in 41:09. I belong to a swim club and am in grade 5, age10
17.6 lengths
No woman as ever finshed a mile.
Sixteen