How Are All These NYC Pools Olympic?

Former Member
Former Member
www.nycgovparks.org/.../af_pools.html Click on any of the five green Borough tabs. There are pools of all different sizes labled "Olympic." How can all these different sized pools be Olympic? Are they mislabled?
  • www.nycgovparks.org/.../af_pools.html Click on any of the five green Borough tabs. There are pools of all different sizes labled "Olympic." How can all these different sized pools be Olympic? Are they mislabled? Mislabeled? Yes, but only because most folks have no idea what the title means. I've seen motel pools advertised as "Olympic", and I've had facility directors inform, me that the pool at their facility was Olympic or even Junior Olympic, let's not go there. FINA's definition of an "Olympic" pool is very specific: An Olympic size swimming pool is the type of pool used in the Olympic Games. The FINA specifications for an Olympic pool are as follows: Length: 50 m Width: 25 m Number of lanes: 8 Lane width: 2.5 m Water temperature: 25 °C - 28°C (77°F - 82.4°F) Light intensity: >1500 lux Depth: 2.0 m minimum Volume: minimum 2,500 m3 or 2,500,000 liters (depends on depth) There must be two spaces 2.5 m wide outside lanes 1 and 8 (in effect, two empty lanes). Also, the 50 metres length must be between the touch pads, if they are used.
  • Former Member
    Former Member
    www.nycgovparks.org/.../af_pools.html Click on any of the five green Borough tabs. There are pools of all different sizes labled "Olympic." How can all these different sized pools be Olympic? Are they mislabled? Yes. An Olympic pool is 50 meters long. There are only two pools in NYC that meet Olympic specifications -- Asphalt Green in Manhattan and Lehman College in the Bronx. There's also a 50 meter pool at Riverbank State Park but it's only four feet deep, too shallow for competition. The Parks Department is making the health club/hotel mistake of calling any rectangular pool that's long enough for lap swimming "Olympic."
  • Former Member
    Former Member
    The Olympics are swum in a 50-meter pool, which is equivalent to 164 feet long. Some of the pools on that link are described as 330 feet long. That would be 100 meters; I'm not sure I've ever seen such a pool. Perhaps their definition of "Olympic" is, "it has lines painted on the bottom." Anna Lea
  • Former Member
    Former Member
    The Olympics are swum in a 50-meter pool, which is equivalent to 164 feet long. Some of the pools are pretty close. The Sunset Park pool I now frequent in the summer is listed as 162' wide (L=259') Picture: maps.google.com/ I wonder why they didn't just make it two feet wider. The pool on the right is just a sprinkler setup a couple inches deep. The pool on the left is a diving pool but it's been closed for at least six years-- due to insurance reasons the senior lifeguard told me. Last summer they filled it in with sand and made it a volleyball court. The sand blows into main pool now and adds a little grit to the bottom in the lap area. The lanes are real wide but there are no lane lines. A couple of the other pools are listed at 165', just a foot too long. Weird. Some of the pools on that link are described as 330 feet long. I'm not sure I've ever seen such a pool. One of those 330' pools is in my old neighborhood of Red Hook. I used to go there sometimes to cool off, though I didn't swim much then. Here's the airial photo. 330' is the length, but the way the lanes are painted it's 130'. maps.google.com/
  • Former Member
    Former Member
    The Olympics are swum in a 50-meter pool, which is equivalent to 164 feet long. Some of the pools on that link are described as 330 feet long. That would be 100 meters; I'm not sure I've ever seen such a pool. Perhaps their definition of "Olympic" is, "it has lines painted on the bottom." Anna Lea That sounds like one of those Art-Deco era Lidos they have in England and are fighting to preserve from developers. Tooting Bec Lido is about that long, it's billed as "The largest outdoor pool in Europe." I suppose it's not inconceivable that some were built on this side of the Atlantic as well.
  • Brian, THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU for throwing those NYC pools under the bus for this "olympic sized pool" crap. I CAN'T STAND IT when people do this. I want to sue them for misrepresentation (and I bet you I could win - a verdict of getting them to remove the "o" word. :dedhorse: The 55 & better community going up across the street from my office is going to have a "senior olympic" size pool. :dedhorse:
  • Former Member
    Former Member
    That sounds like one of those Art-Deco era Lidos they have in England and are fighting to preserve from developers. Tooting Bec Lido is about that long, it's billed as "The largest outdoor pool in Europe." I suppose it's not inconceivable that some were built on this side of the Atlantic as well. That's exactly what they are. Most of the NYC Parks pools were built in the 1930's as depression-era public works projects. They weren't regulation size because the builders only considered them as recreational, not as competition or even lap swimming facilities. Newer Parks Dep't pools (like the Chelsea Pool) are regulation 25 yards and six lanes.
  • I have seen many pools advertised as "Olympic" that were at best 25 yd. I don't know what parameters they are using,but it is clearly false advertising.:bitching:
  • Former Member
    Former Member
    Tom, Those are cool links. Thanks for sharing them. Wow, imagine if that 330' pool had lane lines going the other way... one length of the pool would be 100 meters. Imagine the workouts one could do. A 1000-meter swim would just be 5 times up and back. That would sure be nice for those of us who easily lose count of our laps! Anna Lea
  • Tom, Those are cool links. Thanks for sharing them. Wow, imagine if that 330' pool had lane lines going the other way... one length of the pool would be 100 meters. Imagine the workouts one could do. A 1000-meter swim would just be 5 times up and back. That would sure be nice for those of us who easily lose count of our laps! Anna Lea Yeah, nothing like swimming in a body of water that's affect by the Moon :thhbbb: Plus, can you IMAGINE trying to motivate as a coach in that pool? 'OK guys, next set is an easy drill set, 1 armed butterfly, right arm first length, left arm back' Yep, nothing like 200m 1 armed butterfly, eh? Hey, Fort, how about doing some shooters in that pool? Paul
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