A sport like swimming has various characteristics, among which the swimming styles, the technique, and the different aquatic surfaces in which it is carried out stand out. However, little is said about the short and long pool with the lifeguard course.
Have you ever heard about this topic? Most likely not, or maybe you have overlooked it. In that order of ideas, more will be explained below about the distances in the aquatic surfaces and what differences one has from the other.
Short and long pool swimming
Short and long pool swimming is named after the type of surface on which a tournament or competition is held. These must be endorsed by the International Swimming Federation, FINA.
In the event that the distance of the pool is short, it will be called a short course; if this is long, it will be a long course. In this way, it is usually distinguished within FINA.
Short course or short pool swimming
All FINA sanctioned events or competitions that take place in semi-Olympic swimming pools are known as short courses. Said aquatic surfaces must have the official measurements of 25 meters long by 12.5 meters wide; which is equivalent to half of an Olympic pool.
Within the short course events, the lower category world championships stand out as opportunities to practice and improve time marks.
Despite this, they deliver medals and also appear in the database of world records in all styles. The two most important competitions of this type are the World Cup, held every year, and the World Swimming Championships, held every two years.
On the other hand, short pool swimming is used in different regions of the world as an alternative when winter arrives. This is because most of the short-course water surfaces are indoors and thus their development is not hampered by weather conditions.
Long course or long pool swimming
Like the short course, long course swimming is made up of all FINA endorsed events that take place in an Olympic pool. This has exact measurements of 50 meters long by 25 meters wide.
Practically, it can be said that long course swimming is present everywhere if you take into account the qualifying events and championships that it has.
Both the Olympic Games and the world championships hold their official competitions on long course water surfaces. For this reason, long pool swimming is considered the most important in sports.
The main events in this category are the World Swimming Championships, the World Junior Championships, and the World Masters Championships; all held every two years.
Characteristics in short and long pool swimming
Although long pool swimming is more common than short course swimming, the same modalities are developed in both and the regulations are the same. The only significant difference between the two is the distance traveled. However, each type of swimming has particular characteristics beyond those mentioned above.
Short and long pool swimming tend to favor certain types of swimmers, respectively. For sprinters, 25 meter long pools are much more favorable due to the short and powerful stroke.
For their part, the long-distance runners are the main beneficiaries of the Olympic swimming pools. In this type of surface, resistance is the determining factor to have a good performance on it.
Short or long pool swimming, which is your favorite?
You probably won't notice much difference between short pool and long pool swimming. However, we invite you to go to specialized places that handle the measurements of both surfaces so that you can experience both types.
You must not limit yourself with respect to swimming, the only limit should be the wall of the pool to turn and continue with the course with American Lifeguard Training.
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