Stopwatch With Laps
A stopwatch that records laps, showing each split next to the running total so you can see which segment slowed without doing subtraction in your head. The list copies out as text.
0:00.00
Timed against the system clock rather than a frame counter, so it stays accurate if the tab is backgrounded.
A lap and a total are two different numbers
Every press gives you both: the lap time is that segment alone, the total is time since you started. The list above keeps both columns and copies as text.
| Lap | Lap time | Total |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1:32 | 1:32 |
| 2 | 1:33 | 3:05 |
| 3 | 1:36 | 4:41 |
| 4 | 1:31 | 6:12 |
The lap column shows you faded on the third one; the total shows you finished in 6:12. Neither number is visible in the other, which is why a stopwatch without laps makes you subtract in your head.
A lap is not a fixed distance
- Outdoor track, lane one: 400 m. Four laps is 1,600 m, about 9 m short of a mile.
- 1500 m is three and three-quarter laps of that track.
- Swimming: a length is one end to the other, a lap is usually down and back. In a 25 m pool that is 50 m.
- Sets and drills: a lap is just the press between one rep and the next.
Your thumb is part of the measurement
A hand-pressed lap includes your own reaction on both ends, plus whatever your screen and browser add. Reaction to a surprise cue runs roughly 200-300 ms, less when you can see the moment coming, and you can measure that latency separately. Compare laps with each other, not with a published record. Hundredths on a hand press are decoration; races that matter are timed electronically.
When a countdown is the better tool
If the length is fixed before you start, you want something that ends by itself instead of a number you watch: the countdown timer covers that, down to a 90 second rest between sets. The plain stopwatch is the same clock without the lap list, and it keeps counting past an hour.