Difference in swimming in different depths

RE: Difference in swimming in different depths

swim53 — Wed, 16 Jan 2013 09:01:44 GMT

What was the depth of the pool in Omaha this summer? Both the warm-up and competition pools felt like the fastest poosl I have ever been in.

RE: Difference in swimming in different depths

Former Member — Wed, 16 Jan 2013 06:56:56 GMT

Your muscles do not know -- it's your brain that is the difference.Having been in very shallow pools in H S the deeper pools of now are much nicer to swim in . Thanks , what do you mean by HS?

RE: Difference in swimming in different depths

Allen Stark — Tue, 15 Jan 2013 12:56:36 GMT

What´s the reason for the 7ft mark in olympics pools then? In deep pools I also feel my muscles are exercising more, do you think this could be true? Maybe they have new data.It is certainly cheaper to make a 7'pool vs 71/2.

RE: Difference in swimming in different depths

orca1946 — Tue, 15 Jan 2013 11:47:31 GMT

Your muscles do not know -- it's your brain that is the difference.Having been in very shallow pools in H S the deeper pools of now are much nicer to swim in .

RE: Difference in swimming in different depths

Former Member — Tue, 15 Jan 2013 07:59:27 GMT

All things being equal a deeper pool will be faster(to about 7 1/2 ft as I remember,depth past that doesn't matter.Before they built the Indy pool they did tests to see how far the turbulence from a swimmmer extended.)It really doesn't matter for workout as long as it is deep enough for your turns What´s the reason for the 7ft mark in olympics pools then? In deep pools I also feel my muscles are exercising more, do you think this could be true?

RE: Difference in swimming in different depths

Former Member — Tue, 15 Jan 2013 06:44:31 GMT

Well, I meant 71/2 the official for olympic pools, whats the reason for this mark versus a shallow pool in where you can stand

RE: Difference in swimming in different depths

knelson — Tue, 15 Jan 2013 03:07:32 GMT

The reason is they want the pool deep to prevent turbulence. As stated before if the pool is shallow this turbulence can bounce off the bottom. The deeper the pool the less this will be a problem. The turbulence has much more space to diffuse in a deeper pool. FINA facility standards specify a minimum depth of 2 meters for Olympics and World Champs with 3 meters recommended.

RE: Difference in swimming in different depths

Former Member — Mon, 14 Jan 2013 16:31:40 GMT

Deeper pools are supposed to be faster. In a deeper pool when you turn you can get under your wake. Also a shallow pool apparently can reflect the turbulence back at you. What matters more though I think are the lane ropes and the walls. Good lane ropes can keep your lane calm. For the purpose of training I don't think the depth matters much.

RE: Difference in swimming in different depths

james lucas — Mon, 14 Jan 2013 11:47:12 GMT

I have some experience with swimmimg and when I have try a shorter depth I felt like the swimmimg was a bit more easy I've noticed the same thing. I think it's an illusion - optical or otherwise. In a shallow pool, when your eyes are closer to the bottom of the pool, you can see the bottom more clearly and the amount of the pool bottom that's in your field of vision is smaller and thus appears to be moving at a faster rate. When Long Beach's Belmont Plaza pool is set up for the annual and very well-run master's short-course-meters meet, the starting blocks are in the deep end, with the diving boards, and the turn is in relatively shallow 6 feet of water or so. The deep end is dark, thanks to the early 1960s design, while the turn has pretty good lighting. I've always felt the swim into the shallow turn was faster than the swim into the deep end. The first time I swam an IM in that pool, for example, as I killed myself trying to get to the finish in the deep end, I felt that I was just floating and the bottom was hardly moving.

RE: Difference in swimming in different depths

Former Member — Mon, 14 Jan 2013 10:28:29 GMT

All things being equal a deeper pool will be faster(to about 7 1/2 ft as I remember,depth past that doesn't matter.Before they built the Indy pool they did tests to see how far the turbulence from a swimmmer extended.)It really doesn't matter for workout as long as it is deep enough for your turns Ok, but the 7ft 1/2 mark in oylimpic pools must be for a reason, why? in a deep pool like that I feel like my muscles are exercising more, I feel more inflated after I get out, thats swimming the same amount of time in both pools, but again, could be this an illusion of mine? not a real reason to believe that?

RE: Difference in swimming in different depths

Allen Stark — Mon, 14 Jan 2013 03:44:03 GMT

RE: Difference in swimming in different depths

orca1946 — Mon, 14 Jan 2013 01:01:00 GMT

Shallow depth will cause more bounce back if a pack or loaded swim practice is causing lots of waves. Lighting seems to be more of a concern for me. Dark pools & turns make sighting turns more difficult for me.