Olympic-size swimming pool Olympic-size swimming pool An Olympic-size swimming pool conforms to regulated dimensions, large enough for international competition. This type of swimming pool is used in the Olympic Games, where the race course is in length, typically referred to as "long course", distinguishing it from "short course" which applies to competitions in pools that are in length. If touch panels are used in competition, then the distance between touch panels should be either 25 or 50 metres to qualify for FINA recognition. This means that Olympic pools are generally oversized, to accommodate touch panels used in competition. An Olympic-size swimming pool is
Swimming (sport) female athletes compete in 16 of the recognized events each. Olympic events are held in a 50-meter pool, called a long course pool. There are forty officially recognized individual swimming events in the pool; however the International Olympic Committee only recognizes 32 of them. The international governing body for competitive swimming is the "Fédération Internationale de Natation" ("International Swimming Federation"), better known as FINA. In open water swimming, where the events are swum in a body of open water (lake or sea), there are also 5 km, 10 km and 25 km events for men and women. However, only the