An Olympic-size swimming pool conforms to regulated dimensions that are large enough for international competition. This type of

swimming pool A swimming pool, swimming bath, wading pool, paddling pool, or simply pool, is a structure designed to hold water to enable Human swimming, swimming or other leisure activities. Pools can be built into the ground (in-ground pools) or built ...

is used in the

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a var ...

, where the race course is in length, typically referred to as "long course", distinguishing it from "

short course In swimming, the term short course (abbreviated SC) is used to identify a pool that is in length. The term is also often included in meet names when conducted in a short course pool. "Short course" is the second type of pool configuration current ...

" which applies to competitions in pools that are in length. If touch panels are used in competition, then the distance between touch panels should be either 25 or 50 metres to qualify for

FINA FINA (french: Fédération internationale de natation, en, International Swimming Federation, link=yes) (to be renamed as World Aquatics by ) is the international federation recognised by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) for administer ...

recognition. This means that Olympic pools are generally oversized, to accommodate touch panels used in competition. An Olympic-size swimming pool is used as a colloquial unit of

volume Volume is a measure of occupied three-dimensional space. It is often quantified numerically using SI derived units (such as the cubic metre and litre) or by various imperial or US customary units (such as the gallon, quart, cubic inch). The de ...

, to make approximate comparisons to similarly sized objects or volumes. It is not a specific definition, as there is no official limit on the depth of an Olympic pool. The value has an

order of magnitude An order of magnitude is an approximation of the logarithm of a value relative to some contextually understood reference value, usually 10, interpreted as the base of the logarithm and the representative of values of magnitude one. Logarithmic dis ...

of 1 megaliter (ML).SI Units: Volume
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Specifications

specifications for an Olympic-size pool are as follows: There must be two spaces wide outside lanes 1 and 8 (in effect, two empty lanes). The length of must be between the touch pads at the end of each lane, if they are used. If starting blocks are used, then there must be a minimum depth of from between from the end of the pool to at least from the end of the pool. At all other points, the minimum depth is . If the pool is used for Olympic Games or World Championships, then the minimum depth is increased to . At FINA's 2009 Congress, rules were approved for 10-lane courses for competition, as an alternative to the more traditional 8-lane course.

History

This version of the Olympic-sized swimming pool debuted in the

2008 Beijing Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Na ...

. Beforehand, the Summer Olympics featured the more traditional 8-lane course with a depth of roughly seven feet, now the minimum depth requirement. Twenty-five world records were broken at this pool.

Advantages

The new Olympic-sized swimming pool was designed to provide advantages to assist the swimmers, the first being the increase in the number of lanes. Increasing the lane count from eight to ten gives the swimmers a "buffer lane", helping to absorb waves generated by the swimmers' movements, allowing for less resistance against the swimmers. Moreover, increasing the depth of the pool further gives swimmers another advantage, as the added depth assists the lane lines in dissipating water churn from the swimmers, creating less

hydrodynamic drag In fluid dynamics, drag (sometimes called air resistance, a type of friction, or fluid resistance, another type of friction or fluid friction) is a force acting opposite to the relative motion of any object moving with respect to a surrounding flu ...

for the swimmers.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Olympic-Size Swimming Pool Swimming at the Summer Olympics *

Specifications

History

Advantages

See also

References