Why pool depth affects swimmers’ speed

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I keep seeing people talking about how swimming records aren’t being broken on these Olympics because of the pools being too deep.

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4 Answers

Anonymous 0 Comments

It’s the opposite, deeper pools are considered faster because they’re less turbulent.

Swimmers create wake just like a boat does, that water then moves and bounces off the walls and bottom. Deeper/wider pools give that water more time to slow down and dissipate so it doesn’t impact the swimmers as much. You want the water as still as possible while you’re swimming so you can get a good “grip” on your pull, if the water you’re swimming through is choppy you’ll be less efficient. It’s minor, but it adds up over the course of a race.

The recommended depth for an Olympic size pool is 3m, the pool in France is like 2.1m or something.

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