How Much Water Is In An Olympic Pool

Did y'all know that swimming has been part of the mod Olympics since the very first event in 1896? Since then, simply four of the original sports have survived to the games we see today; athletics, fencing, artistic gymnastics and, y'all guessed it, swimming!

Modern-day Olympic-sized pond pools take a strict prepare of measurements they need to adhere to, to be recognized past FINA (Fédération Internationale de Natation ). An Olympic swimming pool should measure 50m long, 25m wide, and at to the lowest degree two meters deep. This translates to a volume of ii,500,000 liters of water; or 660,430 U.s.a. liquid gallons .

Length	Width	Depth	Temperature	No. of Lanes
50 meters	25 meters	2 meters	25-28 °C	ten

Typical FINA Specification For Olympic Swimming Pools

Accept Olympic Swimming Pools Ever Been 50 meters?

The history of Olympic swimming is a rich 1 and in the very offset modern Olympics in 1896 the competitions were held in open water, in the Mediterranean Bounding main. Information technology was not until 1908 that Olympic swimming got its beginning puddle. Organizers of the London Olympics congenital a swimming pool that was 100 meters long and had it right in the middle of the athletics running rails (source).

The 1924 games in Paris set the standard for what we run into today when they used the beginning pool that was 50 meters long and 25 meters wide (source).

Too check out How Fast Do Olympic Swimmers Swim? Men VS Women Vs Average Swimmers

How Deep Is An Olympic Pool?

While there are many l-meter pools out there, there is more than than just the length to consider in what makes an official Olympic pool according to FINA. One of those other attributes is depth. Olympic pools must be a minimum of 2 meters deep The reason for this is that it reduces the water disturbance which can affect the swimmers.(source)

As all the swimmers dive into the pool and begin pond as difficult equally possible, in that location is a lot of energy being transferred into the water. If the pool is too shallow and then that energy would bounce off the bottom of the pool and disturb the athletes. In fact, organizers for the pool in Tokyo 2020 took this and so seriously that they make their pool 50% deeper than the FINA minimum requirement, at 3 meters deep.

Are Olympic Pools Cold?

You lot might recollect that, given the size, an Olympic swimming pool would be cold but FINA has tight regulations governing the temperature of Olympic swimming pools. All Olympic swimming pools must fall betwixt the parameters of 25-28 °C . The reason for this is that temperature can significantly affect functioning.(source)

In 1952 the Olympic games were held in Helsinki, with temperatures ranging from 13.one°C to 19.8°C in the month of August this would have a major touch on swimmers. Given that Olympic records should be directly comparable from year to year, it stands to reason that water temperatures should be like for all competitions.

Also cheque out What Happens If Y'all Swim In A Shocked Pool? Precautions & How Long To Expect !

How Many Lanes Does An Olympic Pool Have?

All Olympic swimming pools now need to accept ten lanes and each lane has to be a minimum of 2.5m wide, with the outside two lanes left empty equally a buffer. This ensures that the swimmers in lanes 1 and 8 and not adversely afflicted by the waves that bounce off the sides of the pool equally the competitor'south race.

If you look closely at an Olympic swimming event, you volition detect that in that location are two empty lanes on either side. This is not because competitors have not turned upwards, but is in fact a requirement from FINA.

Last Thoughts

Nosotros accept come up a long way since the days of Olympic swimming competitions existence held in rivers and seas. The regulations around Olympic pools now cover length, depth, lane numbers, and even the amount of light immune.

All of this is designed to make racing as fair as possible across each effect and to allow records to be fairly compared against previous years.

If you are ever lucky enough to get to train in a truthful Olympic swimming pool and so you will know that you can adequately compare your times confronting the nifty swimmers that accept gone earlier you.