Pool and tracks fast in the Olympics?

Question

I am a big watcher of the Olympics, and I have heard the announcers say that pools are FAST. How can a pool be fast? I understand how a track could be fast, because of wind, but how can a swimming pool be fast?

Answer 1

I think it has to do with the way the water moves and the flow of the water, and the track is not fast because of wind, it is about what the track is made of. the substance gives the right amount of "give", like a person will have different times if they run on a blacktop or concrete compared to the rubbery type track

Answer 2

The design of the pool, discourages turbulence and encourages speed.  If it's too deep, you lose your sense of vision and where you're at in the pool. But it's just deep enough to where the waves dissipate (and) the turbulence dissipates down to the bottom.  The Water Cube pool also has 10 lanes instead of eight. Waves churned up during races don't bounce back into the swimming lanes. Waves that reach the sides are siphoned off by perforated gutters.  A deeper and a wider pool, gives all of those waves, splashing, and moving water a chance to move away from the swimmers and get out of their way.  The Water Cube pool is close to 10 feet deep. That's 3 feet deeper than the pools of the past. The lane lines that separate swimmers are called wave eaters because they dissipate turbulent water. The goal is to make the water as flat and clear as possible, despite the churning that swimmers create.

Answer 3

A pool can be fast by the quality of the water

Answer 4

there is not much wind in the track stadium, the design of the stadium would discourage a wind from sweeping into the stadium and forming a u shape to reach the track. there is also an odd shape around the top of the stadium to prevent any wind from sweeping into the stadium. the people running the olympics do not want something like wind affecting their results because then everything would not be consistent for different heats or the same race...especially for a race like the 100 meter

Answer 5

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story...

here is where they talk about the dimensions of the pool making it faster