swimming pool, swimming bath, or wading pool is an artificially enclosed body of water intended for recreational or competitive swimming, diving, or for other bathing activities that involve swimming, e.g. play, wading, water exercise, floating around on inner tubes, or merely cooling off on hot days. It usually contains the chemical Chlorine to control bacteria.
One can distinguish between private and public pools: in warm parts of the world private ones are usually outdoors, while public ones can be outdoors or indoors, with some complexes having both. In some parts of the world, a swimming pool for private use is considered a status symbol (an indoor private pool even more so). Swimming pools can be constructed either above ground (generally constructed from plastic and metal), or in the ground (usually formed either out of reinforced concrete and lined with special plaster, a one piece fiberglass shell, or prefabricated sectional walls and a vinyl liner).
Types of pools
Public pools
Public pools are often found as part of a larger leisure centre or recreational complex. These centres often have more than one pool, e.g. an indoor heated pool, an outdoor saltwater or unheated chlorinated pool, a shallower 'children's pool', and a paddling pool for toddlers and infants. There may also be a sauna area. In the swimming pool area and/or in the sauna area there may be one or more spa pools or jacuzzis.
If a swimming pool (sometimes combined with facilities for allied sports and activities, such as a diving tank) is located in a separate building, the building is called a "natatorium".
Many public swimming pools are rectangles either 25 m or 50 m long, but a backyard pool can be any size and shape desired. There are also very elaborate pools, with artificial waterfalls, fountains, splash pads, wave machines, varying depths of water, bridges, and island bars; they may belong to a hotel or holiday resort.
There are often lockers for clothing and other belongings. The lockers generally require a coin to be inserted as deposit or payment outright. Also there are often showers ready for use after a person has finished swimming.
Competition pools
FINA sets widely recognized standards for competition pools, which must be 25 m (~82 feet) or 50 m (~164 feet) long and at least 1.35 m (~4.4 feet) deep. Competition pools are generally indoors and heated to enable their use all year round, and to more easily comply with the regulations regarding temperature, lighting, and Automatic Officiating Equipment.
An Olympic Swimming Pool is a pool that meets FINA's additional standards for the Olympic Games and for world championship events. It must be 50 m (~164 feet) in length by 25 m (~82 feet) wide, divided into eight lanes of 2.5 m (~8.2 feet) each plus two areas of 2.5 m (~8.2 feet) at each side of the pool. The water must be kept at 25–28°C (77-82.4°F) and the lighting level at greater than 1500 lux. Depth must be at least 2 m (~6.5 feet), and there are also regulations for color of lane rope, positioning of backstroke flags, and so on. Pools claimed to be "Olympic pools" do not always meet these regulations, as FINA cannot police use of the term.
Length
Most pools in the world are measured in metres, but in the US pools are sometimes measured in yards. In the UK most pools are in metres, but older pools measured in yards still exist. In the US pools tend to either be 25 yards (short course yards), 25 metres (short course metres) or 50 metres (long course). United States high schools and the NCAA conduct short course (25 yards) competition. There also exist many pools 33? m in length, so that 3 lengths = 100 m. This is sometimes jokingly referred to as "inter-course".
United States Swimming (USS) swims in both metric and non-metric pools. However, the international standard is metres, and world records are only recognised when swum in 50 m pools.
In general, the shorter the pool, the faster the time for the same distance, since the swimmer gains speed from pushing off the wall after each turn at the end of the pool.
Exercise pools
In the last two decades, a new style of pool has gained popularity. These consist of a small vessel (usually about 2.5 m x 5 m) in which the swimmer swims in place, either against the push of an artificially generated water current or against the pull of restraining devices. These pools go under several names, such as swim spas, swimming machines, or swim systems. They are all examples of different modes of resistance swimming.
Hot tub
In the swimming pool area and/or in the sauna area there may be one or more hot tubs (small pools in which people sit on an underwater bench along the edge with water streams and air bubbles). The water temperature is usually very warm to hot, 30 to 40 °C (86 to 104 °F), so that one can only stay a limited amount of time in it, but sometimes only mildly warm, in which case one can stay as long as one likes.
Infinity pools
An infinity pool is a swimming pool which produces a visual effect of the water extending to the horizon or to "infinity". In reality the edge of the pool is below the water level, the water spilling into a trough from where it is pumped back into the pool. The effect is particularly impressive where the invisible edge appears to merge with a larger body of water such as the ocean, or with the sky (if the pool is located on the side of a hill or mountain).
Safety
It is always advisable to keep a close watch on small children around swimming pools, especially private pools that do not have professional lifeguards, as pools present a significant risk of infant and toddler death due to drowning. In regions where residential pools are common, drowning is a major cause of childhood fatalities. Adults are more likely to be aware of risks, but it is still a good idea to have more than one person around when using a private pool.
In public pools there is a lower risk of accident, with trained lifeguards on duty whenever the pool is open. Because of the risk of drowning and the desire for greater safety, combined with technological advances that make such safety possible, more and more public pools are equipped with computer-aided drowning prevention or other forms of electronic and sometimes automated safety and security systems. Among these are the Poseidon system, Swimguard, and the Drowning Early Warning System (DEWS). The best way to ensure safety around swimming pools is to be educated. Knowing how a swimming pool works greatly improves safety. For instance, long haired individuals must avoid water inlets. These inlets, also known as "skimmers", are rectangular holes on the wall that are sometimes partially or completely underwater. In private swimming pools there can be one to two inlets; on public pools there can be five to twenty "skimmers". Another thing to avoid are the "main drains" which are usually identified as round mesh covered objects on the pool floor, as poor design can occasionally result in a safety problem. Building codes and product standards have eliminated these hazards for current designs, but not all pools are up-to-date or up to standard.
Also the bigger the body of water, the greater "force" it needs to have the water circulating. Stronger water pumps are used on large bodies of water to keep the swimming pool healthy so extra care must be taken when swimming along the sides or floor of the swimming pool.
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