- Peaty missed out on historic 100m breaststroke hat-trick by smallest of margins
- The race was one of a number at the Games that have been surprisingly slow
- Paris pool is just over 2m deep, which is far shallower than at previous Olympics
Three nights into the swimming schedule at the Paris Olympic Games, much attention has been given to the surprisingly slow times in the pool.
This point was best shown in the final of the men’s 100m breaststroke on Sunday night when Italy’s Nicolo Martinenghi claimed victory ahead of Adam Peaty and American Nic Fink in an uber-competitive yet shockingly slow race.
In fact, the event was the slowest at any Olympics since the 2004 Athens Games.
Home favourite Leon Marchand similarly lagged behind the pace in his dominant 400m medley win. The Frenchman obliterated his competition, yet he managed to finish nearly half a second outside his own world record mark.
But the absence of quick times at the Games appears to have nothing to do with the athletes, instead, it’s the Paris La Defense Arena’s pool that demands scrutiny.
Adam Peaty won a silver medal in the slowest men’s 100m breaststroke final at the Olympic Games in 20 years
The race has reignited discussions on the the pool used for the swimming schedule in Paris
Organisers of the Games decided to install a temporary 2m 15cm deep tank for the schedule, which complies with the minimum 2m depth required for such events. However, it is some way short of the 3m standard of the past four Games.
With the artistic (synchronised) swimming, which requires a pool depth of 3m, taking place at another venue, a shallower pool was deemed to be sufficient.
Unfortunately for any world record enthusiasts, this has resulted in the conditions being less conducive to speedy times.
Deeper water makes for faster times due to a reduction in turbulence interacting with the swimmers at the surface.
Breaststroke swimmers are especially affected by the choppy waters in a shallower pool, with their distinctive motion creating stronger waves which bounce off the walls and floor before interacting with the competitors.
Peaty admitted that the times in the pool have been ‘strange’ after he was agonisingly denied a historic third-straight 100m breaststroke Olympic gold.
‘It’s been a strange one, in terms of times,’ the world record holder said. Victorious Martinenghi added: ‘The time wasn’t fast for anybody; we spoke to each other about it.
‘But I don’t care about it,’ he continued. ‘I’m Olympic champion. Today I was fastest — that’s enough for me.’
The shallower pool can also reduce the swimmer’s distance to technical equipment on the floor of the tank used to light the space, broadcast the event or in a number of other scenarios. The apparatus has the potential to distract the swimmers.
Home favourite Leon Marchand was almost half a second outside of his own world record in the 400m medley
The 22-year-old obliterated his competition at the Paris La Defense Arena but finished well short of his historic time
However, Britain’s Matt Richards, who won silver in the 200m freestyle on Monday, offered an alternative opinion and insisted he preferred the shallower pool as it aides his turns.
‘I like shallower pools because my turns benefit from it: in a deep pool the drive off the wall always feels much “heavier”.’
