How Many Gallons Of Water In An Olympic Size Swimming Pool

Did you know that pond has been part of the mod Olympics since the very first event in 1896? Since and then, only iv of the original sports have survived to the games we see today; athletics, fencing, creative gymnastics and, you lot guessed it, swimming!

Mod-mean solar day Olympic-sized swimming pools have a strict set of measurements they demand to adhere to, to be recognized by FINA (Fédération Internationale de Natation ). An Olympic pond puddle should mensurate 50m long, 25m wide, and at least 2 meters deep. This translates to a volume of 2,500,000 liters of h2o; or 660,430 US liquid gallons .

Length	Width	Depth	Temperature	No. of Lanes
50 meters	25 meters	two meters	25-28 °C	10

Typical FINA Specification For Olympic Swimming Pools

Take Olympic Swimming Pools E'er Been 50 meters?

The history of Olympic swimming is a rich ane and in the very first modern Olympics in 1896 the competitions were held in open water, in the Mediterranean Sea. Information technology was non until 1908 that Olympic swimming got its first pool. 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 ready the standard for what we encounter today when they used the first puddle 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 50-meter pools out there, there is more just the length to consider in what makes an official Olympic pool co-ordinate to FINA. One of those other attributes is depth. Olympic pools must exist a minimum of 2 meters deep The reason for this is that it reduces the h2o disturbance which tin can affect the swimmers.(source)

Every bit all the swimmers dive into the pool and begin swimming as difficult as possible, there is a lot of energy being transferred into the h2o. If the puddle is too shallow then that energy would bounce off the bottom of the pool and disturb the athletes. In fact, organizers for the puddle in Tokyo 2020 took this so seriously that they make their pool fifty% deeper than the FINA minimum requirement, at 3 meters deep.

Are Olympic Pools Cold?

You might think 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 pond pools must fall between the parameters of 25-28 °C . The reason for this is that temperature tin significantly bear upon performance.(source)

In 1952 the Olympic games were held in Helsinki, with temperatures ranging from 13.1°C to 19.8°C in the month of Baronial this would have a major impact on swimmers. Given that Olympic records should exist direct comparable from yr to year, information technology stands to reason that water temperatures should exist like for all competitions.

Also check out What Happens If You Swim In A Shocked Pool? Precautions & How Long To Await !

How Many Lanes Does An Olympic Puddle Have?

All Olympic swimming pools now need to have 10 lanes and each lane has to exist a minimum of ii.5m wide, with the outside two lanes left empty as a buffer. This ensures that the swimmers in lanes ane and eight and non adversely afflicted past the waves that bounciness off the sides of the puddle as the competitor's race.

If you look closely at an Olympic swimming outcome, you will notice that there are two empty lanes on either side. This is not because competitors take not turned upwards, but is in fact a requirement from FINA.

Final Thoughts

We accept come a long manner since the days of Olympic swimming competitions beingness held in rivers and seas. The regulations effectually Olympic pools at present cover length, depth, lane numbers, and fifty-fifty the amount of light allowed.

All of this is designed to make racing as fair every bit possible beyond each consequence and to allow records to be fairly compared against previous years.

If you are ever lucky enough to go to train in a true Olympic swimming pool and so you will know that you tin can fairly compare your times against the great swimmers that have gone before y'all.