What will make the Paris 2024 Olympic swimming pool fast or slow?

Olympic swimming rarely disappoints and it begins on Saturday with the women’s 100m butterfly. As the excitement builds, many are wondering if the pool will deliver record-breaking performances to liven up the Games.

First things first; in Paris, there is a separate venue for the swimmers in Nanterre, while the divers and artistic swimmers get to shine in the purpose-built £151 million swimming centre in Saint-Denis. So much for the hype around a flexible pool. Instead, the swimming competitions are being held at the Paris La Défense Arena, where two temporary 50-metre pools have been built into what is normally a 30,000-seater rugby stadium.

Swimming in a rugby stadium?

Many swimming competitions are held in arenas created for other sports, mainly to increase spectator numbers, and the decision to do so for Paris 2024 has had a largely positive response, with the venue seating more than 15,000. “I think it’s great that more and more people are watching swimming,” said Australian star Bronte Campbell, who is competing in her fourth Games. “The more people the better. Maybe they’ll make enough noise that we’ll finally be able to hear them underwater.”

Australia’s Zac Stubblety-Cook, the reigning Olympic champion in the men’s 200m breaststroke, emphasised the impact of the arena’s size. “When you walk into this arena, even the space on the pool deck, it’s just incredible. Being able to walk around and have space is a small detail really, but something that everyone has noticed.”

Does the pool really matter that much?

In a sport where the difference between gold and silver can be just a hundredth of a second, the conditions in the pool can be decisive. The company that built the pools at La Défense is the same company that has done so at the last six Olympic Games. Strict World Aquatics rules govern technical aspects such as the depth of the pool and the width of the lane line, for example. Beijing 2008, when 25 world records were broken, set the standard to beat for a fast pool.

What makes a pool fast or slow?

You may have heard about the difference a track can make to performance, with the new purple track in Paris said to be 2% faster than the one in Tokyo, and the The composition of a pool can also affect speedboth psychologically and scientifically.

There are four main factors that can determine the pace of a pool. The depth of the water, which should be deep enough to reduce the impact of waves hitting the bottom of the pool, as this creates turbulence, but shallow enough that swimmers can see the floor and use the tiles as reference points for their speed. Historically, the Olympic standard of three metres has been considered the optimum depth. The temperature of the water should be within the World Aquatics requirements, between 25C and 28C, so that swimmers can warm up properly but not overheat.

Next, the gutters must be large enough to absorb the impact of waves crashing against the sides of the pool. Gutters that are too small put swimmers in the outer lanes at a disadvantage, as they are more likely to experience turbulence. In the Olympics, the outer two lanes are not used to create a more level playing field. Finally, non-slip starting platforms ensure that swimmers can get off to a powerful start.

Will the Paris 2024 Pole Be Fast?

The pool is shallower than the 3m standard, at 2.30m and there have been some questions about the effect this will have. The starting platforms have fins that allow swimmers to really push off at the starting gun. And one of the French faces at the Games, swimmer Léon Marchand, believes it will live up to expectations. “The pool is fantastic,” he said. “I loved being in the water, the depth is the same all the way. So you feel like you’re swimming fast and that’s cool. It’s a beautiful pool.” As swimmers feeling quickly in the swimming pool of La Défense, we could see some new world records.