Here's What May Be To Blame For Slower-Than-Expected Swimming At Paris 2024

NANTERRE, France (AP) — The atmosphere for Olympic swimming is electrifying.

The times? Not so much.

Through the first four days of competition in the portable pool at La Defense Arena, no world records were set.

That finally changed in the final race Wednesday night when Pan Zhanle of China broke his own mark in the men’s 100-meter freestyle. Still, most of the best swimmers in the world are clocking slower-than-expected times.

The culprit appears to be a pool that is slightly shallower than the optimal depth, which allows a couple of extra rows of prime deck-side seats to remain in use but creates more waves and turbulence rolling up to the surface.

“I’ve heard the rumblings, but at the end of the day we’re here to race,” said American star Katie Ledecky, who picked up her first gold medal of the Games with a dominating win in the 1,500 freestyle. “We’re all fast swimmers. We make the pool as fast as we want it to be. I’m not really thinking about it.”

Going forward, World Aquatics has mandated a minimum depth of 2.5 meters (8.2 feet) for swimming and water polo events, such as the portable pool that will be installed inside SoFi Stadium for the 2028 Los Angeles Games.

But when the Olympics were awarded to Paris, the temporary facility was approved under previous guidelines that allowed for a depth of 2.2 meters (7.2 feet).

For perspective, a 3-meter (9.8 feet) pool is considered the optimal depth. At the U.S. trials in Indianapolis, where the portable pool installed in Lucas Oil Stadium was around 2.8 meters (9.1 feet), two world records were set.

No complaints about the atmosphere

Torin Koos, a spokesman for World Aquatics, noted that numerous Olympic records have been set — nine through the first 20 events at La