| MadSci Network: Engineering |
There's a good article in The Guardian discussing the Homebush pool. Quoting the article:
The main aim of the pool designers has been to reduce turbulence, allowing a swimmer to cut through the water more quickly. The string of world records might have caused ripples, but the pool has remained wonderfully calm.Design measures include making the pool wider and deeper, and adding special lane dividers to reduce surface waves. The starting blocks have also been redesigned. The article also discusses the purity of the water, but I doubt that influences speed. In general, though, I don't see any design factors which aren't found in other modern olympic pools.
There are other factors involved besides pool design. One was the introduction of full-length bodysuits, which many feel played a key role in the records set at Homebush. Also, there is certainly a huge human factor: the swimmers in the '00 Olympics and the Pan Pacific championships (the two major events held there) may have been unusually well-motivated, or just plain better than competitors in other events. Random chance may have also played a role. Finally, the possibility of drug enhancement at the events must be considered.
In summary, Homebush is very well-designed to reduce turbulence and ripples, but the biggest factor affecting a swimmer's speed is the swimmer. And a good thing too, or competition wouldn't be very exciting!
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