Almost two weeks have passed since the swimming competitions at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games ended, with the closing ceremony taking place on August 12.

This year’s Games generated a lot of excitement, partly due to the questionable depth of the Defense Arena pool, where world records were slow to fall. Visible waves, more pronounced than normal in pools of this size, made spectators ponder whether they might be contributing to slower times.

This got me thinking: Are there any “slow” pools where world records are still being set? And how deep are the pools where current records have been set?

Below I’ve compiled a list of current records, including the depth of the pools they were set in. As we’ve discussed, most Olympic pools are about 10 feet deep, and most current world records were set in such pools. There’s a bit of a feedback bias here – most major competitions choose deeper pools to compete in, and major competitions are where most world records are set. I still think it’s interesting to look back.

ARE WORLD RECORDS SET IN SHALLOW POOLS?

Absolutely. In addition to the four world records set during the Paris Olympics, there are three other records set in pools less than 3 metres deep. One of them is the world record in the men’s 50-metre freestyle, which was set with a supersuit but was broken by Cesar Cielo in his home pool at the Pinheiros Club in São Paulo. The depth of the pool ranges from 2.10 m to 2.30 m.

If we ignore the super suite records, two stand out: Sarah Sjostrom50m butterfly and Ariarne Titmus200 m freestyle.

According to a theory put forward by an Olympic champion trained at an elite university, water depth is less important in solid pools than in shallow pools because there is less cavitation in the body of the structure, thus creating fewer waves.

Sjoström She set her record 10 years ago at the Swedish National Championships on July 5, 2014 in Borås in the Borås Simarena, which is only 2 meters deep. This record is also the longest standing (with the exception of Liu Zige‘s “unbeatable” 200 m butterfly) among the women’s records.

More recently Ariarne Titmus set a new record in the 200m freestyle just a month and a half before the Paris Games. On July 12, 2024, during the Australian Olympic qualification in Brisbane, Titmus achieved a time of 1:52.23, beating the record of her teammate Mollie O’Callaghan at the World Championships in Fukuoka in 2023. This record comes from the Queensland Aquatic Centre in the Sleeman Sport Complex, which also has a depth of 2 metres.

Interestingly, in the same pool in Brisbane during the June trials Kaylee McKeown (who holds the world record in the women’s 200m backstroke) swam the second fastest time ever, just 0.16 seconds slower than her record of 2:03.14.

These examples show us that pool depth is not everything when it comes to breaking records. A record that stood for a decade was set in a 2-meter-deep pool, as was a record set weeks before the Paris Games in a shallower pool than the one in Paris.

SO WERE THESE THE SLOWEST OLYMPIC GAMES EVER?

Not really. If you look at the Olympic and world records from past Games, the number of records set in Paris is not too different from that of Rio 2016. Four world records were set in Paris, six in Tokyo 2021, but it is important to remember that only three years have passed since then.

Looking at both Olympic and world records, 21 new records were set in 20 disciplines in Paris. In Tokyo there were 21 records in 33 disciplines, while in Rio there were 23 records in just 12 disciplines.

OLYMPIC AND WORLD RECORDS FROM THE LAST GAMES:

• Paris2024: 21 records (20 events), 4 WR
• Tokyo 2021: 33 records (21 events), 6 WR
• Rio2016: 23 records (12 events), 8 WR (7 events)

Interestingly, the most “disappointing” performances seemed to come during the early finals, such as the podium for the 100m breaststroke, which took place on the second day, while the best performances, including world records, came during the final days, such as Pan Zhanle‘s record on day 5 or the women’s medley relay on day 8.

I will leave these thoughts here for now and wait for further responses – many of which have already come from the Olympic champions who have once again pushed boundaries.

LIST OF RECORDS WITH POOL DEPTHS

WOMEN’S WORLD RECORD

MEN’S WORLD RECORD

MIXED WORLD RECORDS