The dimensions of an Olympic-sized pool should be consistent whether the pool is at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, China, at the 2012 Olympics in London, England, or at an Olympic training facility in Colorado Springs, Colorado in the United States. from America. While personal pool sizes fluctuate wildly—some are very large and some are very small—Olympic size has become the standard in uniform dimensions for competitive swimmers.

In terms of length, the distance is about 50 meters from one end to the other. Meters are a metric unit of measurement, and in the US customary system, this equation equals 164 feet. When an athlete swims a lap, he swims from one end to the other and then back to the original starting point. Essentially, swimming one lap is the equivalent of two trips across the pool, which equals 100 meters (50 meters plus 50 meters). Swimming one lap equals 10% of a kilometer or 6.2% of a mile in the traditional American system.

The width is 25 meters (82 feet). The basic dimensions of these pools are easy to remember because the length is about 50 meters and the width is just half that figure. There are normally eight lanes. In some pools for training purposes, the normal eight lanes will be increased (often doubled to sixteen) changing the way swimmers use the pool so that athletes swim along the 25m side instead of the 50m. meters. While this training method isn’t ideal for working over time, it allows more people to swim at the same time when resources and pool space are limited.

In tournaments the width of each lane is 2.5 meters. For readers who are not very familiar with the metric system, 2.5 meters is equal to 8 feet 2 inches. A swim lane longer than eight feet should be large enough for any size swimmer, regardless of wingspan and stroke (the butterfly stroke, for example, requires more room than the backstroke).

The depth of an Olympic size pool is 6 meters (6 feet 7 inches). Many people mistakenly assume that these pools are 10 feet deep. Perhaps the shallow depth is an attempt to save water.

Interestingly, there is even a standard temperature that goes along with other more conventionally thought of dimensions. In an effort to keep the competitive field as level as possible, a water temperature range has been implemented to prevent home pool perks from resulting in workouts in exceptionally cold or warm water. The regulated temperature spectrum is between 25 degrees Celsius and 28 degrees Celsius. Those temperatures equate to between 77 and 82 degrees on the Fahrenheit scale.