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A swimming pool, swimming bath, wading pool, paddling pool, or simply pool, is a structure designed to hold water to enable Human swimming and associated activities. Pools can be built into the ground (in-ground pools) or built above ground (as a freestanding construction or as part of a building or other larger structure), and may be found as a feature aboard ships. In-ground pools are most commonly constructed from materials such as concrete, natural stone, metal, plastic, composite or fiberglass, and may follow a standardized size, the largest of which is the Olympic-size swimming pool, or be of a custom shape.
Many , , and private clubs have pools for their members, often used for exercise. In much of the world, local governments provide publicly-run pools for their citizens. Many of these are outdoors; indoor pools are typically part of a leisure centre. Many hotels have a pool for the use of their guests. Pools as a feature in hotels are more common in tourist areas or near convention centers. Many universities and other institutional communities provide pools for their members, often as part of an institution-specific athletic or recreational complex. Apartment complexes and residential subdivisions may provide a pool for the use of their residents. Private residences, particularly in areas with warm climates, may have their own pools.
Educational facilities such as high schools and universities often have pools for physical education classes, recreational activities, leisure, and competitive athletics such as swimming teams. and are small heated pools used for relaxation or hydrotherapy. Specialised pools are also used for diving, water sports, and physical therapy, as well as for training of and . Swimming pools most commonly use chlorinated water, or salt water, and may be heated or unheated.
Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome built artificial pools for athletic training in the , for nautical games and for military exercises. Roman emperors had private swimming pools in which fish were also kept, hence one of the Latin words for a pool was piscina. The first heated swimming pool was built by Gaius Maecenas in his gardens on the Esquiline Hill of Rome, likely sometime between 38 and 8 BC. Gaius Maecenas was a wealthy imperial advisor to Augustus and considered one of the first patrons of arts.
Ancient Sinhalese people built a pair of pools called "Kuttam Pokuna" in the kingdom of Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka, in the 6th century AD. They were decorated with flights of steps, punkalas or pots of abundance, and scroll design. Kuttam Pokuna by Lanka Pradeepa, 3 November 2020, retrieved 8 July 2022.
The Amateur Swimming Association was founded in 1869 in England, and the Oxford Swimming Club in 1909.The City of Oxford Swimming Club, History The presence of indoor baths in the cobbled area of Merton Street might have persuaded the less hardy of the aquatic brigade to join. So, bathers gradually became swimmers, and bathing pools became swimming pools. In 1939, Oxford created its first major public indoor pool at Temple Cowley.
The modern Olympic Games started in 1896 and included swimming races, after which the popularity of swimming pools began to spread. In the US, the Racquet Club of Philadelphia clubhouse (1907) boasts one of the world's first modern above-ground swimming pools. The first swimming pool to go to sea on an ocean liner was installed on the White Star Line's Adriatic in 1906. The oldest known public swimming pool in the U.S., Underwood Pool, is located in Belmont, Massachusetts.
Interest in competitive swimming grew following World War I. Standards improved and training became essential. Home swimming pools became popular in the United States after World War II and the publicity given to swimming sports by Hollywood films such as Esther Williams' Million Dollar Mermaid made a home pool a desirable status symbol. More than 50 years later, the home or residential swimming pool is a common sight. Some small nations enjoy a thriving swimming pool industry (e.g., New Zealand pop. 4,116,900 – holds the record in pools per capita with 65,000 home swimming pools and 125,000 spa pools).NZ Census, 7 March 2006.
A two-storey, white concrete swimming pool building composed of horizontal cubic volumes built in 1959 at the Royal Roads Military College is on the Canadian Register of Historic Places.
The largest indoor wave pool in the world is at DreamWorks Water Park within the American Dream shopping and entertainment complex at the Meadowlands Sports Complex in East Rutherford, New Jersey, United States, and the largest indoor pool in North America is at the Neutral Buoyancy Lab in the Sonny Carter Training Facility at NASA JSC in Houston.NASA, Behind the Scenes: Training. Retrieved 7 May 2007
In 2021, Deep Dive Dubai, located in Dubai, UAE, was certified by the Guinness Book of World Records as the world's deepest swimming pool reaching . The Y-40 swimming pool at the Hotel Terme Millepini in Padua, Italy, previously held the record, , from 2014 until 2021.
The Fleishhacker Pool in San Francisco was the largest heated outdoor swimming pool in the United States. Opened on 23 April 1925, it measured and was so large that the lifeguards required for patrol. It was closed in 1971 due to low patronage.
In Europe, the largest swimming pool opened in 1934 in Elbląg (Poland), providing a water area of .
One of the largest swimming pools ever built was reputedly created in Moscow after the Palace of Soviets remained uncompleted. The foundations of the palace were converted into the Moskva Pool open-air swimming pool after the process of de-Stalinisation. However, after the fall of communism, Christ the Saviour Cathedral was re-built on the site between 1995 and 2000; the cathedral had originally been located there.
The highest swimming pool is believed to be in Yangbajain (Tibet, China). This resort is located at AMSL and has two indoor swimming pools and one outdoor swimming pool, all filled with water from .
USA Swimming (USA-S) swims in both metric and non-metric pools. However, the international standard is metres, and world records are only recognized when swum in 50 m pools (or 25 m for short course) but 25-yard pools are very common in the US. 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.
Width: The width of the pool depends on the number of swimming lanes and the width of each individual lane. In an Olympic swimming pool each lane is 2.5 meters wide and contains 10 lanes, thus making the pool 25 meters wide.
Depth: The depth of a swimming pool depends on the purpose of the pool, and whether it is open to the public or strictly for private use. If it is a private casual, relaxing pool, it may go from deep. If it is a public pool designed for diving, it may slope from in the deep end. A children's play pool may be from deep. Most public pools have differing depths to accommodate different swimmer requirements. In many jurisdictions, it is a requirement to show the water depth with clearly marked depths affixed to the pool walls, although this may not be the case for private pools in some jurisdictions.
Construction methods for private pools vary greatly. The main types of in-ground pools are gunite shotcrete, concrete, vinyl-lined, and one-piece fiberglass shells.
Many countries now have strict pool fence requirements for private swimming pools, which require pool areas to be isolated so that unauthorized children younger than six years cannot enter. Many countries require a similar level of protection for the children residing in or visiting the house, although many pool owners prefer the visual aspect of the pool in close proximity to their living areas, and will not provide this level of protection. There is no consensus between states or countries on the requirements to fence private swimming pools, and in many places they are not required at all, particularly in rural settings.
are available for children and other people to play with in pool water. They are often blown up with air so they are soft but still reasonably rugged, and can float in water.
Many upscale hotels and holiday resorts have a swimming pool for use by their guests. If a pool is in a separate building, the building may be called a natatorium. The building may sometimes also have facilities for related activities, such as a diving tank. Larger pools sometimes have a Springboard affixed at one edge above the water.
Many public swimming pools are 25 m or 50 m long, but they can be any size and shape. There are also elaborate pools with artificial waterfalls, fountains, , wave machines, varying depths of water, bridges, and island bars.
Some swimming facilities have for clothing and other belongings. The lockers can require a coin to be inserted in a slot, either as deposit or payment. There are usually showers – sometimes mandatory – before and/or after swimming. There are often also lifeguards to ensure the safety of users.
Wading or paddling pools are shallow bodies of water intended for use by small children, usually in parks. Concrete wading pools come in many shapes, traditionally rectangle, square or circle. Some are filled and drained daily due to lack of a filter system. Staff chlorinate the water to ensure health and safety standards.
World Aquatics sets standards for competition pools: long and at least 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-size swimming pool (first used at the 1924 Olympics) is a pool that meets FINA's additional standards for the Olympic Games and for world championship events. It must be wide, divided into eight lanes of each, plus two areas of at each side of the pool. Depth must be at least .
The water must be kept at and the lighting level at or greater than 1500 lux. There are also regulations for color of lane rope, positioning of (5 metres from each wall), and so on. Pools claimed to be "Olympic pools" do not always meet these regulations, as FINA cannot police use of the term. Touchpads are mounted on both walls for long course meets and each end for short course.
A pool may be referred to as fast or slow, depending on its physical layout." Zesiger pool design", Zesiger sports and fitness center, MIT. Retrieved 4 February 2007 Some design considerations allow the reduction of swimming resistance making the pool faster: namely, proper pool depth, elimination of currents, increased lane width, energy absorbing racing lane lines and gutters, and the use of other innovative hydraulic, acoustic and illumination designs.
Commercial spas are generally made of concrete, with a mosaic tiled interior. More recently with the innovation of the pre-form composite method where mosaic tiles are bonded to the shell this enables commercial spas to be completely factory manufactured to specification and delivered in one piece. Hot tubs are typically made somewhat like a wine barrel with straight sides, from wood such as Californian redwood held in place by metal hoops. Immersion of the head is not recommended in spas or hot tubs due to a potential risk of underwater entrapment from the pump suction forces. However, commercial installations in many countries must comply with various safety standards which reduce this risk considerably.
Home spas are a worldwide retail item in western countries since the 1980s, and are sold in dedicated spa stores, pool shops, , the Internet, and catalog sales books. They are almost always made from heat-extruded acrylic sheet Perspex, often colored in marble look-alike patterns. They rarely exceed and are typically deep, restricted by the availability of the raw sheet sizes (typically manufactured in Japan). There is often a mid-depth seating or lounging system, and contoured lounger style reclining seats are common.
Upmarket spas often include a drinks tray, lights, LCD flat-screen TV sets and other features that make the pool a recreation center. Due to their family-oriented nature, home spas are normally operated from . Many pools are incorporated in a Coast Redwood or simulated wood surround, and are termed "portable" as they may be placed on a patio rather than sunken into a permanent location. Some portable spas are shallow and narrow enough to fit sideways through a standard door and be used inside a room. Low power electric immersion heaters are common with home spas.
Whirlpool tubs first became popular in the U.S. during the 1960s and 1970s. A spa is also called a "jacuzzi" there, as the word became a generic after-plumbing component manufacturer; Jacuzzi introduced the "spa whirlpool" in 1968. Air bubbles may be introduced into the via an air-bleed venturi pump that combines cooler air with the incoming heated water to cool the pool if the temperature rises uncomfortably high. Some spas have a constant stream of bubbles fed via the seating area of the pool, or a footwell area. This is more common as a temperature control device where the heated water comes from a natural (uncontrolled heat) geothermal source, rather than artificially heated.
Water temperature is usually very warm to hot – – so bathers usually stay in for only 20 to 30 minutes. Bromine or mineral sanitizers are often recommended as sanitizers for spas because chlorine dissipates at a high temperature, thereby heightening its strong chemical smell. Ozone is an effective bactericide and is commonly included in the circulation system with cartridge filtration, but not with sand media filtration due to clogging problems with turbid body fats.
There are currently about 100 ocean baths in New South Wales, which can range from small pools roughly 25 metres long and "Olympic Sized" (50m) to the very large, such as the 50 × 100 m baths in Newcastle. While most are free, a number charge fees, such as the Bondi Icebergs Club pool at Bondi Beach. Despite the development of chlorinated and heated pools, ocean baths remain a popular form of recreation in New South Wales.
A semi-natural ocean pool exists on the central coast of New South Wales; it is called The Bogey Hole.
Water in natural pools has many desirable characteristics. For example, red eyes, dried-out skin and hair, and bleached associated with overly chlorinated water are naturally absent in natural pools. Natural pools, by requiring a water garden to be a part of the system, offer different aesthetic options and can support amphibious wildlife such as snails, frogs, and salamanders, and even small fish if desired.
The requirements addressed the inequalities of swimming efficiency, effectiveness, and satisfaction experienced by people with physical disabilities. They also create equality of access to a physical activity with multiple benefits. Research suggests that swimming can be therapeutic and induces healthier physical and mental states.
Architecturally, an indoor pool may look like the rest of the building, but extra heating and ventilation and other engineering solutions are required to ensure comfortable humidity levels. In addition to drainage and automatic pool covers, there are a number of ways to remove the humidity present in the air in any wet indoor environment. Efficient Dehumidifier in the indoor pool environment prevents structural damage, lowers energy costs for cooling or heating, and improves the indoor climate to provide a comfortable swimming environment.
Some colleges, universities, and high schools have buildings that use the term "natatorium" in their names, especially when the building houses more than just a swimming pool, for example a diving well or facilities for water polo. The word natatorium was borrowed from Late Latin "place for swimming" into English in New England in 1890.
Chemical disinfectants, such as chlorine (usually as a hypochlorite salt, such as calcium hypochlorite) and bromine, are commonly used to kill pathogens. If not properly maintained, chemical sanitation can produce high levels of disinfection byproducts. Sanitized swimming pool water can theoretically appear green if a certain amount of iron salts or copper chloride are present in the water.sahatchaiw.com. " The theory of colors of water in the swimming pool" (PDF) by Sahatchai Wanawongsawad
Acesulfame potassium has been used to estimate how much urine is discharged by swimmers into a pool.
A Canadian study estimated that swimmers had released 75 litres of urine into a large pool that had about 830,000 litres of water and was a third of the size of an olympic pool. were found to have higher readings of the marker. While urine itself is relatively harmless, its degradation products may lead to asthma.
Diving in shallow areas of a pool may also lead to significant head and neck injuries; diving, especially head-first diving, should be done in the deepest point of the pool. Different organizations have different minimum requirements on safe pool depth for diving. The American Red Cross recommends a minimum depth of 9 feet, while the Department of Health of the New York state prohibits diving in less than 8 feet of water. Olympic Games diving pools for diving from up to 10 meters (~32 feet) must comply with the World Aquatics guidelines, which require the pool to be 5 meters (~16 feet) deep.
In regions where residential pools are common, drowning is a major cause of childhood death. An article by the CDC states that a majority of drownings of children between ages 1-4 happen in swimming pools. As a precaution, many jurisdictions require that residential pools be enclosed with Pool fence to restrict unauthorized access. Many products exist, such as removable baby fences. The evidence for floating alarms and window/door alarms to reduce the risk of drowning is poor. Some pools are equipped with camera- and computer-aided drowning prevention or other forms of electronic safety and security systems.
"Slip and fall" injuries can occur on the surfaces surrounding swimming pools if the surfaces are not made with non-skid materials or are in poor repair.
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