# How fast does sperm swim?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-fast-does-sperm-swim/27476>\
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\
**Created:** [July 30, 2000, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-fast-does-sperm-swim/27476 "2000-07-30T20:48:45Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 7\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![SirJoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f4b2a3/32.png) [@SirJoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SirJoe)\
**Post date:** [July 30, 2000, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-fast-does-sperm-swim/27476/1 "2000-07-30T20:48:45Z")

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I know this sounds like an odd question, but it’s an inter-agency trivia question. I think a show told the answer on TLC yesterday and that is how someone came up with the question.  
Thanks

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**Author:** ![SirJoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f4b2a3/32.png) [@SirJoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SirJoe)\
**Post date:** [July 30, 2000, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-fast-does-sperm-swim/27476/2 "2000-07-30T20:50:57Z")

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O.K. how fast DO sperm swim?

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**Author:** ![Whammo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8dc957/32.png) [@Whammo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whammo)\
**Post date:** [July 30, 2000, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-fast-does-sperm-swim/27476/3 "2000-07-30T20:51:51Z")

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I think that depends on if it actually made it “inside” or if its just doing the “breast stroke”.

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**Author:** ![Lizard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dfb087/32.png) [@Lizard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lizard)\
**Post date:** [July 30, 2000, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-fast-does-sperm-swim/27476/4 "2000-07-30T21:42:43Z")

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I read in a friends medical textbook once that its about 6 inches per hour.

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**Author:** ![Catrandom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7bcc69/32.png) [@Catrandom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Catrandom)\
**Post date:** [July 30, 2000, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-fast-does-sperm-swim/27476/5 "2000-07-30T21:55:51Z")

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Shouldn’t the thread title be “How fast _do_ sperm swim?”

Catrandom

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**Author:** ![Lizard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dfb087/32.png) [@Lizard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lizard)\
**Post date:** [July 30, 2000, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-fast-does-sperm-swim/27476/6 "2000-07-30T22:12:42Z")

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Only if all sperm swam at the same speed. I’ll bet my sperm are the Mark Spitzs’ of sperm.

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**Author:** ![SSgtBaloo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ac91a4/32.png) [@SSgtBaloo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SSgtBaloo)\
**Post date:** [July 30, 2000, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-fast-does-sperm-swim/27476/7 "2000-07-30T22:25:29Z")

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The _original_ fire-and-forget missile!

Actually, 6 inches an hour sounds pretty fast for a microscopic critter. How long is a sperm and, if it were 6’ long (retaining the same velocity to scale) how fast would it be then? Something along the lines of "If a man could leap the same distance as a flea, relative to his body length, he would be able to jump over a barn (or other some-such).