Should there be world records for short course (25) yards?

33 1/3 pool competitions are a long time ago. I did those as a kid as 12 years old. Not common today.

I’ve swam in 22 yard, and 35 yard pools. Do they get recognition too? I think you’re opening up a big can of worms if you do it. Every pool out there is going to want to have its own records. Comparatively, in track and field, there are tracks out there that are odd lengths. They can host track meets, but not conference/tournament/playoff meets. And usually, record times one those tracks aren’t recognized. 25 yards, 33⅓ yards, and 50 yards are U.S. standards. I’d say there can be U.S. national records…but not world records in those pools. 

Dan

Agree that they are not common and don't think they should have official WRs either... but they are fun to swim in

Never swam in a 35-yard pool. Did it have lane markers?

Yes. In all other aspects these 35 yard pools were set up for competition swimming. I encountered them on a few occasions throughout my 20-year Navy career. The last one was just closed and razed about 8-10 years ago at the Navy base here in Rhode Island. Some were indoor, some outdoor. But they were all old…like built during WWII era. After encountering them at couple of different locations, Navy and Army bases, I began to ask around “why 35 yards?” No one seemed to know why. Other than to say they were originally constructed to train military recruits basic swimming skills. Once recruit training was moved from any particular base, the pool was turned over to the base recreation department to operate. After years of wondering and asking, I finally got a response that made sense. The military built them an odd length so that outside entities wouldn’t ask to use them for swim team/club/meets, or recreation. Ironically, in all cases, they had become the home training pool for local military clubs/teams. But still couldn’t host meets due to the odd length. In a couple of cases, they had placed jersey barriers across the shallow end to to make the lap swimming area precisely 25 meters…which left about 10 yards beyond that as a shallow area for kids to play in. 

Dan

IDK about world records in SCY, but NCAAs should be held in SCM or even LCM from time to time, at least once every 4 years to give swimmers at least once chance over their collegiate career.

NCAA used to have more of an emphasis on meters during Olympic years a while ago. Not sure when that stopped... but agree that it should come back.

I'd actually like to see more swim meets in non-regulation pools. It would put more emphasis on the racing aspect, and help teach pacing and tactics I think it would also be a good for swimmers' mental health because it would remove the pressure of comparing every performance to one's personal best.