Swimming pool

For the 2003 film, see Swimming Pool.

Types of pools

Public pools

Public pools are often found as part of a larger leisure centre or recreational complex. These centres often have more than one pool, e.g. an indoor heated pool, an outdoor saltwater or unheated chlorinated pool, a shallower 'children's pool', and a paddling pool for toddlers and infants. There may also be a sauna area. In the swimming pool area and/or in the sauna area there may be one or more jacuzzis.

Related Topics:
Toddler - Infant - Sauna - Jacuzzi

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If a swimming pool (sometimes combined with facilities for allied sports and activities, such as a diving tank) is located in a separate building, the building is called a "natatorium".

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Many public swimming pools are rectangles either 25 m or 50 m long, but a backyard pool can be any size and shape desired. There are also very elaborate pools, with artificial waterfalls, fountains, splash pads, wave machines, varying depths of water, bridges, and island bars; they may belong to a hotel or holiday resort.

Related Topics:
Rectangle - Waterfall - Fountain - Splash pad - Hotel - Holiday resort

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There are often lockers for clothing and other belongings. The lockers generally require a coin to be inserted as deposit. This discourages people from leaving the lockers locked and taking the keys.

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Competition pools

Swimming pools designed for competitions are required to be a certain length and depth to guarantee that a 200 m race will always be 200 m long. Many public swimming pools are 50 m long and 25 m wide which is a requirement for Olympic and World Championship swimming. Professional pools require a minimum depth of 1 m and there are also regulations about other characteristics such as temperature, guttering and lighting as defined by FINA. Public pools are generally indoors and heated to enable their use all year round. Competition pools have to be indoors to comply with the regulations regarding temperature, lighting, and Automatic Officiating Equipment.

Related Topics:
Olympic - FINA

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An 'Olympic Swimming Pool' is 50 m in length ("long-course"), 25 m wide, with 8 lanes of 2.5 m each. The water should be kept at between 25 and 28 °C and the lighting level at greater than 1500 lux. Recently "short-course" swimming events held in a 25 m pool have become popular (if not held at the Olympics). There also exist many pools 33⅓ m in length, so that 3 lengths = 100 m. This is sometimes jokingly referred to as "inter-course". In general, the shorter the pool, the faster the time for the same distance, since the swimmer gains speed from pushing off the wall after each turn at the end of the pool.

Related Topics:
Olympic Swimming Pool - Lux

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Measurement

In the US pools are generally measured in feet. In the UK most pools are in metres, but older pools measured in yards still exist. In the US pools tend to be fractions of 100 yards (25 or 50), whereas UK non-metric pools are more likely to be based on 110 yards. However, the international standard is metres, and world records are only recognised when swum in 50 m pools.

Related Topics:
US - UK

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Exercise pools

In the last two decades, a new style of pool has gained popularity. These consist of a small vessel (usually about 2.5m x 5m) in which the swimmer swims in place, either against the push of an artifcially generated water current or against the pull of restraining devices. These pools go under several names, such as swim spas, swimming machines, or swim systems. They are all exemples of different modes of resistance swimming.

Related Topics:
Swimming machines - Resistance swimming

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Hot tub

In the swimming pool area and/or in the sauna area there may be one or more hot tubs (small pools in which people sit on an underwater bench along the edge with water streams and air bubbles). Dress code is in accordance with the area it is in: swimsuit near the pool, nude near the sauna. The water temperature is usually very warm to hot, 30 to 40 °C (86 to 104 °F), so that one can only stay a limited amount of time in it, but sometimes only mildly warm, in which case one can stay as long as one likes.

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Other pools

Motels often have pools, often outside, as an amenity for the recreation of their guests and children, especially motels in warmer climates. Larger pools sometimes have a diving board as an accessory affixed above the water at the pool's edge. Diving pools should meet minimum depth requirements to prevent diving injury.

Related Topics:
Motel - Diving

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Home pools can be permanently built-in, but non-permanent pools are often assembled above ground and can be disassembled. They are used mostly outdoors in yards. For toddlers and small children, small temporary-use pools made of plastic can be blown up with air to form the sides of the pool and the inside filled with water. When finished, the water and air can be let out and this type of pool can be folded up for convenient storage.

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A variety of toys are available for children (and other people) to play with in pool water. Such toys are often blown up with air so they are soft but still reasonably rugged, and can float in water.

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As an alternative, some people use hot tubs at home for recreationally soaking their bodies in water.

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