Paris 2024 Olympics: the effects of technological advancements on world record swimming times 

Holding a world record in any sport is an incredible achievement. Over the past 100 years, drastic changes to the speed of swimming has meant new records are hit almost evey year. But did you know that times and paces across different disciplines can be affected by the slightest technological advancements? Let's look at some of these advancements present in this year's Olympic Games.

Swimming has been an Olympic sport for 128 years – since 1896! This sport at Olympic level requires athletes to swim in a 50m pool over distances between 50m and 1500m. With individual and team relays, race timings are incredibly close. Often, it is a mere 100th of a second that will determine medal holders from non-medal holders.

Elite swimmers such as Michael Phelps – who has a world record for holding most Olympic gold medals for swimming (23) – can reach speeds of up to 10km / hour.

In the past 100 years, swimmer speed has increased by incredible measures. In 1924, 100m freestyle gold medal winner, Johnny Weissmuller, broke speed records when he completed the race in 59 seconds. As impressive as that is, this record time was beaten when Caeleb Dressel shaved a whopping 12 seconds off it at the Tokyo Games in 2020. He made a new record sitting at 47 seconds, beat yesterday by China's Pan Zhanle, who became Olympic champion on the 100m freestyle with a time of 46.40 seconds.

In women's swimming, a record time of just over 1 minute and 12 seconds, which was held by Ethel Lackie in 1924, was beaten in 2020 by Emma McKeon for a record time of 51.96 seconds.

So, how do they do it?

There Must Be Something In The Water

We can chalk these advancements up to human evolution. Scientific advancements and biology related involvements such as diet and proper rest – could be enough to explain these significant differences in numbers. Of course training has intensified and athletes are becoming more and more determined in the water.

However, there are other factors to consider when looking at the evolution of world records in the watersport.

Swimming is in a league of its own - literally

The thing about world records in swimming is that they tend to progress at a rate that is different to any other sport. Unlike many other earth-dominant sports, swimming sees an increase in step changes rather than evolutionary ones over time. These changes include the introduction of technologically advanced swimwear and accessories.

One example of these changes can be seen in swimsuits. In the early 20th century, swimsuits were primarily made of wool, which was heavy and absorbed water, thus increasing drag and slowing swimmers down. Soon, we saw an evolving world of swimsuit materials and designs. These factors paid huge tribute to athletes' performace.

In the 1970s, we were introduced to nylon and Lycra materials. Dissimilar from wool, these fabrics were lighter, absorbed less water, and therefore reduced the drag of swimmers.

The most transformative period for materials and swimwear came in the late 1990s and early 2000s. It was the introduction of full-body polyurethane swimsuits. The infamous Speedo Fastskin suit, introduced in 2000, was inspired by shark skin and designed to reduce drag and enhance buoyancy. These suits compressed the muscles, reduced vibration, and improved the swimmer's hydrodynamic profile.

We saw a huge difference in times after the introduction of the more lightweight, skin-like swimsuits. A notable surge in world records happened at the 2008 Beijing Olympics – it was largely due to the advancement in swimsuit 'technology'. It was here that 25 world records were broken.

However, this progress maybe advanced a little too hard. After breaking a crazy 25 world records at the 2008 Games, the use of full-body polyurethane suits were banned by the World Aquatics (WA). This was largely down to concerns over the fairness and integrity of the sport.

In 2009, new regulations were introduced which have remained in place to this day. Along with material allowances during competitions, there is also restrictions on the coverage these suits can have on an athlete.

• Men's suits: Allowed only from the waist to the knees.
• Women's suits: Allowed from the shoulders to the knees.

Despite the ban on high-tech suits, swimwear companies continued to innovate within the new regulations. Modern suits now focus on optimizing compression, fit, and hydrodynamics using advanced textile materials. These suits still offer performance benefits but within the boundaries set by WA.

Another advancement worth noting was the introduction of swimming eyewear – goggles. When these were introduced, it meant that swimmers could see the pool walls more clearly and precisely. This made their turning movements easier to complete and therefore reduced their time in the pool.

It's worth mentioning too that the improvements made to swimming caps, including material changes as well as customised fittings has elevated the comfort for water athletes.

So, the swimmers have evolved. The technology has advanced. What has happened with the pools?

Olympic Pool Requirements

There are certain rules and regulations that Olympic pools must follow in order to practice fairly in the sport.

WA regulations require an Olympic-sized swimming pool to be 50 metres or approximately 164 feet in length. This measurement is taken from end to end of the pool, including the touch pads used for timing. It must have a minimum depth of two meters.

WA regulations ensure that pool walls meet specific height and dimension requirements. This standardization helps swimmers train more effectively and perform consistently in competitions, contributing to improved times.

The eight lanes used in Olympic competitions have to be at least 2.5 metres wide.

The Paris 2024 Olympic Swimming Pool

We may be seeing slower record times all round at this year's swimming events.

The two temporary Olympic swimming pools, at Paris La Défense Arena this year, were constructed by the same Italian company (Myrtha Pools) that built pools for the Summer Games in Atlanta, Beijing, London, Rio and Tokyo. They are filled with around 660,000 gallons of water and have a depth of 2.15 metres.

By the laws of physics, pools less than a depth of 3 metres can introduce turbulence. This is usually caused by waves bouncing and reflecting off the bottom of the pool as a result of mass movement in the body of water. Typically, this advancement could effect swimmers times by slowing them down.