Olympic-size swimming pool
Olympic sized swimming pool, used for Baku 2015 European Games
An Olympic-size swimming pool conforms 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.
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 megaliter (ML).[1]
Contents
1 Specifications
2 History
3 Advantages
4 See also
5 References
Specifications
FINA specifications for an Olympic-size pool are as follows:
| Physical property | Specified value |
| Length | 50 m [2] |
| Width | 7001250000000000000♠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 | 25–28 °C (77–82 °F) |
| Light intensity | minimum 1500 lux (140 footcandles) |
| Volume | 2,500,000 L (550,000 imp gal; 660,000 US gal), assuming a nominal depth of 7000200000000000000♠2 m. 2,500 m3 (88,000 cu ft) in cubic units. |
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 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. 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 amount of lanes. Increasing the lane count from eight to ten gave the swimmers a "buffer lane," designed to siphon the waves generated by the swimmers allowing less resistance against the swimmers.[3] The extension of the depth of the pool gives swimmers another advantage, assisting the lane lines dissipate the water churning 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
^ SI Units: Volume
^ abcdefg "Fina Facilities Rules 2015-2017" (PDF). FINA. Retrieved 28 November 2015..mw-parser-output cite.citation{font-style:inherit}.mw-parser-output .citation q{quotes:"""""""'""'"}.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-free a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/65/Lock-green.svg/9px-Lock-green.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-limited a,.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-registration a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d6/Lock-gray-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-gray-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-subscription a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/aa/Lock-red-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-red-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration{color:#555}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription span,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration span{border-bottom:1px dotted;cursor:help}.mw-parser-output .cs1-ws-icon a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4c/Wikisource-logo.svg/12px-Wikisource-logo.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output code.cs1-code{color:inherit;background:inherit;border:inherit;padding:inherit}.mw-parser-output .cs1-hidden-error{display:none;font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-visible-error{font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-maint{display:none;color:#33aa33;margin-left:0.3em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration,.mw-parser-output .cs1-format{font-size:95%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-left,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-left{padding-left:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-right,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-right{padding-right:0.2em}
^ abc "China's Olympic Swimming Pool: Redefining Fast". NPR.org. Retrieved 2019-03-03.
