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Junior Olympic Pool VS Olympic Pool: A Comparison

Junior Olympic Pool VS Olympic Pool: A Comparison

Since Olympics Games were introduced on April 6, 1896, held in Athens, Greece. It is not only made these modern games popular—but also given them importance throughout the world.

Nowadays Olympics are very important for every country as it only happens every four years but all the country also participates in this competition to be the best of every other country’s participant

One of the main reasons why the Olympics were held is to engage human beings through sports and to contribute to world peace that is why it has so much prestige that is why every participant gives his level best to get on the top of every Olympics.

One of the main games played in the Olympics is swimming. A junior Olympic pool and Olympic pool are two pools and you might have thought that they’re the same just by looking at their name. Thus, they are both seemed to be used in Olympic swimming competitions.

Well, both are not used in the Olympic swimming competitions nor are they the same due to a couple of differences between them.

The Olympic pool is used in Olympic Games for swimming and is 10-lane wide and 50 meters long. Whereas the junior Olympics pool unlike its name is not used in Olympics swimming competitions. Instead, it is used for the state championship and its width is 25.0 m.

These are just a few differences between the Olympic pool and the junior Olympic pool. To know more about their facts and differences, read further as I will be going through all.

What is an Olympic pool?

A person swimming in a pool
In the Olympic Games, an Olympic pool or Olympic size swimming pool is used for swimming.

An Olympic pool or Olympic size swimming pool is used in Olympic Games for swimming, where the racecourse is 50 meters in length which are referred to or called as LCM (long course yard). The pool with a course of 25 meters in length is mainly referred or called as SCY (short course yard).

If the touch panel is used then the difference between the touch panel should be 50 or 25, this is the main reason why Olympic pool sizes are oversized.

A pool is distributed into 8 lanes with an extra lane that is not used by a swimmer, on either side.50 meters long pool size is mainly used in summer Olympics whereas the 25-meter length pool size is mainly used in winter Olympics.

What are the specifications of an Olympic pool?

A pools specifications is often seen by their:

  • Width   
  • Length 
  • Depth  
  • Number of lanes             
  • Width of lane    
  • Water volume  
  • Water temperature       
  • Light intensity

The specifications of the Olympic pool in order to be approved by FINA are as follows. Let’s deep dive at them one by one.

PropertiesValues
Width25.0 m(2)
Length50 m(2)
Depth3.0 m(9th 10 in) recommended or  2.0(6th 7 in) minimum
Number of lanes8-10
Width of lane2.5m (8th 2 in)
Water volume2,500,000 L (550,000 imp gal; 660,000 US gal), assuming a nominal depth of 2 m.
2,500 m3 (88,000 cu ft) in cubic units. About 2 acre-feet.
Water temperature25-28 C (77-82 F)
Light intensityminimum 1500 lux (140 footcandles)
Key specifications of an Olympic pool.

What is a semi-Olympic pool?

The diving board of a swimming pool
Semi-Olympic pools meet FINA’s minimum dimensions and specifications for competition usage in the 25-meter pool.

A semi-Olympic pool, also known as a short Olympic pool, is half the size of an Olympic pool while still adhering to FINA’s standards with the smallest specifications and requirements for 25-meter competitive usage.

They measure 50 meters in length, 25 meters in width, and two meters in depth. When full, these pools carry 2.5 million liters of water or approximately 660,000 gallons.

What are the specifications of a semi-Olympic pool?

It has the same specification as a normal Olympic pool having a length of 25 meters and a width of 12.5 meters but with a depth of 6 meters.      

When timing touch panels are used at the extreme beginning walls or at the turns, the pool length (minimum distance between the inner front edges of the pool) must be long enough to guarantee that a space of 25 meters exists between the two nearest faces of the two panels.      

Semi-Olympic pool vs. Olympic pool: What’s the difference?

There is no great difference between these pools the miner difference between them is that semi Olympic has a dimension of  25 m by 12.5 m while the Olympic pool has a dimension of 50, by 25, and the fact that a semi-Olympic pool is half the size than the original Olympic pool. 

The terms “25-meter” and “50-meter” refer to the swimming pool’s length. The number of lanes determines the width. Olympic-sized pools contain ten lanes, each measuring 2.5 meters wide, for a total width of 25 meters.

Short courses are normally 25 meters long, whereas long courses are 50 meters long.

The International Olympic Committee recognizes FINA, or the Fédération Internationale de Natation, as the governing body for international aquatics competition. In 50-meter pools, the Olympic Games, FINA World Aquatics Championships, and SEA Games are held.

The FINA World Swimming Championships, sometimes known as the “Short Course Worlds,” are contested in 25-meter pools on even years.

How to swim in deep pools?

As Olympics pools are very great in terms of their depth, you might be thinking about how one can swim as it seems impossible.

In reality, nothing is impossible, as it’s said “If there is a will, there is the way.”

You have to first sit down in the pool by griping on something then you should relax your body and then toy have to take deep breaths and you have to breathe out twice as long as you breathe in, so if you breathe in for 3 seconds then you should breath out for 9 seconds and when you swim you have to be relaxed as possible and want to take a stroke and glide forward. If you want to slow down just take another stroke and glide forward.

DON’T try to swim as long as possible because if by chance you get panicked and try to swim fast you use a lot more oxygen than you use regularly.

To know more about how to swim in these large pool checks out this video this is going to tell how to swim in these pools as well as how to hold your breath.  

What is a Junior Olympic Pool?

Generally speaking, there is no such thing as a junior Olympic pool, it is used for the state championship meet for the age-group swimmers in that state. 

So yeah it is not considered an official Olympic pool that being said there are 2 pool lengths used in this type of competition LCM pool which is 50 meters are mainly used in the summer junior Olympics and SCY for winter Junior Olympics.

Picture shows a man diving in the swimming pool.
The Junior Olympics pool is a 50-meter pool.

How many laps is a mile in a junior Olympic pool?

A genuine mile is 16.1 laps long.

For a 50-meter LCM pool size, there is exact and equal to 16.1 laps. For a 25-meter SCM, a lap is exact and equal to 32.3. If you are swimming in a 25-yard pool, a metric mile is 35.2 laps.

What are the specifications of a junior Olympic pool?

The junior Olympic pool is pretty similar to the Olympic pool in terms of specifications. The table represents the specification of the junior Olympics pool.

PropertiesValue
Width25.0 m(2)
Length50; m(2)
Depth3.0 m(9th 10 in) recommended or  2.0(6th 7 in) minimum
Number of lanes10
Width of lane2.5 m (8 ft 2 in)
Water temperature25–28 °C (77–82 °F)
Key specifications of a junior Olympic pool

Olympic Pool or Junior Olympic pool: Are they the same thing?

These two pools have no such big difference between these two things the only difference is that the Olympic pool is used by adults. On the other hand, the Junior Olympic pool is used by juniors or teens.

The Olympic pool is used in Olympics swimming competitions while the junior Olympic pool is used for the state championship meet for the age-group swimmers in that state.

However, during Junior Olympics contests, two different pool lengths are employed. The summer Junior Olympics take place in a 50-meter long course meters (LCM) pool.

Wrapping Things Up

There are many types of pools that are swam by swimmers from different levels; some are professional while some are beginners.

The Olympics pool and junior Olympics pool are two different types of pools used by swimmers belonging to different age groups and levels of expertise.

We can all agree that the Olympic games have given us many opportunities to demonstrate our hidden talents to others and not only it has given us opportunities it has created a friendly environment among many countries, which accomplishes the aim of why the Olympic games were introduced.

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