Swimming pool depth can impact race speed

In the men's 100-meter breaststroke final at the 2024 French Olympics, no swimmer finished better time then Tokyo Olympics race from 3 years earlier.
In the women’s 400 freestyle, three former world record holders failed to reach their personal bests, and Katie Ledecky did not break 4 minutes.
The swimming pool at Paris La Défense Arena is 2.15 meters deep, below the recommended 3 meters by World Aquatics but above the previous minimum of 2 meters.
Shallower pools may cause “wavy” or choppy water, affecting performance, especially in breaststroke.

However, Kyle Chalmers swam the world's fastest time in the 100m freestyle. however as he was not swimming the first leg of the race it does not count. From: https://www.tyla.com/news/kyle-chalmers-olympics-relay-world-record-545320-20240729

Created 2024-07-30T20:16:18+02:00, updated 2024-07-30T21:29:45+02:00 · History · Edit