Swimmers - does depth of pool matter?

[Anonymous]

I train mostly at a local rec center that has deeper water. But, I also swim at the local community pool, which is much shallower (3.5-4.5 feet). I seem to struggle more in the shallower depths and to be slower. (FWIW, I was never a competitive swimmer but took it up recently and love it). Does depth of water affect how you swim?

Strange question, perhaps. And, Maybe it is in my own mind.

[Anonymous]

I've never really noticed it except that I can see the line on the bottom of the pool better in the shallower end, and therefore I feel like I swim better. But I prefer doing kickturns in the deeper end - for no particular reason. Interested in seeing what others say. I haven't been a competitive swimmer for twenty years now.

[Anonymous]

Shallow water is slower.

However, if the water is too deep a swimmer can get disorientated, but pools generally are never too deep. The normal depth for a competitive pool is 7’, but the Beijing Olympic pool (which is now considered to be the fastest pool in the world) was 10’.

Of course, you can't do flip turns safely in shallow water. Competitive swimmers need depth to properly execute the turn and achieve the push off momentum at the wall. For competition, the turns are almost more important than the actual swim.

[Anonymous]

When I was a competitive swimmer, I loved deep pools, and I always got faster times. Because they are deeper, there is less wake at the surface.

[Anonymous]

Makes sense, and I do now remember the business about the "Water Cube" being fast b/c it is deep.

I find that I am way slower in the 3.5-4.5' deep community pool than in the 7-8 ft. deep REC Center pool.