Swimming Pool
Authority: World Aquatics Facility Rules (formerly FINA)
A World Aquatics-standard Olympic pool measures 50m long by 25m wide, divided into 10 lanes of 2.5m each. Minimum competition water depth is 2m, with 3m recommended for multi-discipline use such as diving or water polo. Competition water temperature must be maintained between 25-28 degrees C.
| Parameter / Specification | Standard Value | Unit |
|---|---|---|
| Pool Length | 50 | m (164 ft 1 in) |
| Pool Width | 25 | m (82 ft) |
| Number of Lanes | 10 | lanes |
| Lane Width | 2.5 | m (8 ft 2 in) |
| Minimum Water Depth | 2 | m (6 ft 7 in); 3 m recommended |
History & Origin
The sport's global governing body was founded on 19 July 1908 at the Manchester Hotel in London, shortly after that year's London Olympics, when eight national federations -- Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Great Britain, Hungary, and Sweden -- joined to form the Federation Internationale de Natation (FINA), giving competitive swimming a single international rule-making body for the first time. FINA operated under that name for over a century before member federations voted at an Extraordinary General Congress in Melbourne in December 2022 to rebrand as World Aquatics, a change that took effect in January 2023.
That governing body is responsible for the facility rules that define a regulation competition pool, from its 50m length down to water temperature and lighting requirements, so that a world record set in one country is directly comparable to one set anywhere else.
The Modern 10-Lane Standard
Pool length settled at 50m long before lane count did. FINA's 2009 Congress approved rules permitting 10-lane competition courses, up from the traditional 8, a configuration that had already made its debut on the world's biggest stage at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. The two extra lanes function partly as still-water buffer zones along the pool's edges, absorbing wave turbulence so it doesn't bounce back into the racing lanes and slow swimmers down.
Facility standards extend beyond the pool itself to the gear used in it: FINA banned high-tech polyurethane "supersuits" in 2010 after a wave of broken world records was widely attributed to the suits' buoyancy and drag reduction, shifting competitive focus back toward pool conditions, training, and athlete performance rather than swimwear technology.