Swim Poll of the Week: Favorite Type of Pool to Swim In

This is the Swim Poll of the Week for Thursday, September 2, 2021, sponsored by Strechcordz Swim Training Products. In our last poll, we wanted to know: What is your favorite type of pool to swim in?

The question is a simple matter of preference, but swimmers can definitely hold strong preferences for one course over another. The first option was long course, 50 meters and home of the biggest swim meets on the planet, the Olympic Games and the World Aquatic Championships. If nothing else, long course is the most grueling course because swimmers must go all the way across the pool without getting the break and extra boost off the wall that comes with doing a turn.

The next option was short course meters, which is the course we see utilized in the ongoing International Swimming League (ISL). The pool length is exactly half that of long course, but the huge boost of doing twice the number of turns in each race completely changes the dynamic, to either the benefit or detriment of each athlete. It just depends on the swimmer’s strength on their turns, underwaters and breakouts.

Finally, many swimmers in the United States enjoy short course yards, which hosts the high-level racing of the collegiate season and the NCAA championships. These pools are by far the most common in the U.S., and they are slightly shorter than short course meters facilities. Times in a 25-yard pool are generally two to four seconds slower per 50 than in a short course meters pool.

So which out of these three courses do Swimming World readers prefer?

Swim

Swim Poll of the Week: What is your favorite type of pool to swim in?

Long Course — 47%

Short Course Meters — 23%

Short Course Yards — 28%

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