How Long is an Olympic Pool?

The swimming competition in the Olympics is always exciting. It is always filled with thrill and tension. Many of those who dream about getting into the Olympics practice their swimming skills in an Olympic pool to have a better idea of what’s out there in the big league.

How long is an Olympic pool? Well, it is quite long. 50 meters for long course events and 25 meters for the short course events. That’s based in international standards; that’s the measurement used in international competitions such as the Olympics.

In an informal setting, however, an Olympic pool is not about the 10-lane, 25 m x 50 m facility. It is about any size of a swimming pool that is bigger than usual. Some hotels, homes, and venues describe their pools Olympic-size even when it does not meet the international standards on measurement. It is just to impose the fact that they have ‘huge’ pools in their facility.

Swimming Competitions

If you are preparing yourself for a swimming competition, it is advisable that you use a facility based on the official measurement standard. That way, you will be able to have a better feel of what’s actually coming.

There are different swimming categories that are included in most international sporting events. You have to single out which one you will be joining because each have different skill requirements and strengths.

First, there’s lap swimming in varied lengths and strokes. Mostly, swimming events include 50-meter, 100-meter, 200-meter, 400-meter, 800-meter, 1,000-meter, 1,500-meter, and 10,000-meter courses. There are also four strokes that are commonly required: butterfly, breastroke, backstroke, and freestyle.

Second, there’s diving. This is a swimming event that millions of people excitedly await for since it was included in the competition. Judges assess not time, this time, but grace, technique, and synchronization (in case of synchronized diving).

Third, there’s the amusing synchronized swimming. Instead of vying for the best time, teams who join this event work hard to offer an entertaining routine that will show off their rhythm and grace on top and beneath the water.

Lastly, there is the exciting game of water polo. This is held between two teams with seven players on each side. Aside from swimming, there’s a ball that members of the team can pass around and dribble to get to the team’s end of the pool and shoot in the goal. The standard 50-meter Olympic pool is required for this game. The total width that is used for the playing area is about 20 meters.