NANTERRE, France (AP) 鈥� 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 broke his own mark in the men鈥檚 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.
鈥淚鈥檝e heard the rumblings, but at the end of the day we鈥檙e here to race,鈥� said American star Katie Ledecky, who picked up her first gold medal of the Games with a . 鈥淲e鈥檙e all fast swimmers. We make the pool as fast as we want it to be. I鈥檓 not really thinking about it.鈥�
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 鈥� nine through the first 20 events at La Defense Arena.
Indeed, no one is griping much. Everyone is competing under the same conditions, so it’s not like anyone has an advantage. For the most part, the favored swimmers are coming out on top.
鈥淚 try not to pay attention to it just because we鈥檙e all in the same pool,” said American Katie Grimes, who claimed a silver in the 400-meter individual medley. “I mean, regardless if it鈥檚 a slow pool or not, it鈥檚 not going to affect just one person. It鈥檚 affecting everybody.鈥�
Everyone has raved about the raucous setting, more than 15,000 strong for every session in an indoor stadium that is normally used by the famed rugby club Racing 92. The crowds are loud and boisterous, especially when dives in the water.
鈥淚t doesn鈥檛 matter whether I鈥檓 racing here in in Paris or at a local country pool in South Australia,鈥� Aussie sprinter Kyle Chalmers said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 all about winning that race in the pool. Everyone has the same opportunity. Everyone has a lane. We鈥檙e all swimming in the same pool. It鈥檚 not like some people are sending their times in from the trials or anything like that.鈥�
Maybe it’s the pressure of the moment
Chalmers doesn’t believe the pool is entirely to blame for the slower-than-expected races.
鈥淭here鈥檚 a lot of pressure and expectation that people put on themselves,鈥� he said. 鈥淎 lot of people haven鈥檛 swam in the Olympics before. I think the nervous energy of having like (15,000 fans) in the stadium is crazy. I personally love it, but I think people do definitely crack under that pressure.鈥�
Many swimmers are slower at the Olympics
Still, the times are a bit jarring.
blew away Grimes and the rest of the field in the 400 IM, but the 17-year-old Canadian went more than three seconds slower than her world-record showing at her country’s Olympic trials in May.
David Popovici of Romania captured gold in the men’s 200 freestyle with a time of 1 minute, 44.72 seconds, the slowest by an Olympic champion in that event since Pieter van den Hoogenband at the 2000 Sydney Games.
Then there’s Nicol貌 Martinenghi of Italy, whose gold-medal time of 59.03 in the 100 breaststroke would not have been good enough to claim a medal of any color at the last two Summer Games. It was the slowest winning performance since Japan’s Kosuke Kitajima two decades ago at the Athens Olympics.
A look back at previous Olympics
At least one swimming world record has been set at every Olympics in the post-World War II era, and it’s common for multiple marks to fall.
A whopping 23 world records were set at the 2008 Beijing Games, when the sport was in the midst of the rubber-suit revolution. The following year, at the world championships in Rome, a staggering 43 marks were established, leading the world governing body to impose strict new rules governing body coverage and fabrics.
Since then, the pace of world records has returned to more customary levels, with several marks from those 2009 worlds still on the books. But it’s generally assumed that most everyone will be at their best when an Olympic year rolls around, which usually leads to a spirited assault on the record list.
Nine world records were set at London in 2012, eight more fell at the 2016 Games in Rio de Janeiro and a half-dozen were broken at the pandemic-delayed Tokyo Games three years ago, when swimmers competed in a mostly empty arena because of COVID-19 restrictions.
The lack of fans hasn’t been an issue in Paris, where the cacophony of a large arena filled to the rafters with passionate supporters has given everyone an extra push.
Not quite enough to call for a rewrite to the record book, but Chalmers and others don’t really seem to mind.
鈥淚t doesn鈥檛 matter about times,鈥� the Aussie said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 about getting your hand on the wall first and winning the race. The times are never really all that remembered.鈥�
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