Olympic-size swimming pool

An Olympic-size swimming pool conform to

regulated dimensions, large enough for international
competition. This type of swimming pool is used in
the Olympic Games, where the race course is 50
metres (164.0 ft) in length, typically referred to as
"long course", distinguishing it from "short course"
which applies to competitions in pools that are 25
metres (82.0 ft) 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
recognition. This means that Olympic pools are
generally oversized, to accommodate touch panels
used in competition. Olympic sized swimming pool, used for Baku 2015 European
Games
An Olympic-size swimming pool is used as a
colloquial unit of volume, 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 of 1 mega liter (ML).[1]

Contents
Specifications
History
Advantages
See also
References

Specifications
FINA specifications for an Olympic-size pool are as follows:
 Physical property Specified value

Length 50 m [2]

Width 25.0 m[2]

Depth 2.0 m (6 ft 7 in) minimum, 3.0 m (9 ft 10 in) recommended.[2]

Number of lanes 10
Lane width 2.5 m (8 ft 2 in)
Water temperature 26–32 °C (79–90 °F)
Light intensity minimum 1500 lux (140 footcandles)
2,500,000 L (550,000 imp gal; 660,000 US gal), assuming a nominal depth of 2 m.
2,500 m3 (88,000 cu ft) in cubic units.
Volume
About 2 acre-feet.

There must be two spaces 2.5 m (8 ft 2 in) wide outside lanes 1 and 8 (in effect, two empty lanes).[2] The length of 50 metres
(164 ft) must be between the touch pads at the end of each lane, if they are used.[2] If starting blocks are used, then there must be
a minimum depth of 1.35 metres (4.4 ft) from between 1.0 metre (3 ft) from the end of the pool to at least 6.0 metres (20 ft) from
the end of the pool. At all other points, the minimum depth is 1.0 metre (3 ft).[2] If the pool is used for Olympic Games or World
Championships, then the minimum depth is increased to 2.0 metres (7 ft).[2]

A simplified diagram of the FINA long course swimming pool standard.

At FINA's 2009 Congress, rules were approved for 10-lane course 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. Beforehand, the Summer
Olympics featured the more traditional 8-lane course with a depth of roughly seven feet,[3] now the minimum depth requirement.
This new Olympic-sized swimming pool was the host of 25 broken world records.
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.[3] 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 for the swimmers.[3]

See also
Sport venue
List of Olympic-size swimming pools in the United Kingdom
List of Olympic-size swimming pools in Ireland
List of Olympic-size swimming pools in the Philippines
List of largest swimming pools
List of Olympic venues in swimming

References
1. SI Units: Volume (https://www.nist.gov/pml/wmd/metric/volume.cfm)
2. "Fina Facilities Rules 2015-2017" (https://www.fina.org/sites/default/files/finafacilities_rules.pdf) (PDF). FINA.
Retrieved 28 November 2015.
3. "China's Olympic Swimming Pool: Redefining Fast" (https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=93478
073). NPR.org. Retrieved 3 March 2019.

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This page was last edited on 24 September 2019, at 11:31 (UTC).

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