What makes a swimming pool fast?

Answer 1

In swimming, the actions of the athletes creates waves and turbulence which can slow them down. A fast swimming pool, like the Water Cube at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, absorbs the turbulence to allow swimmers to swim at their fastest. The Water Cube is three feet deeper than many other competitive pools, allowing swimmers to still see the bottom without disorientation, and giving more volume to absorb waves. The pool also has ten lanes, rather than the standard eight, giving even more volume. The lane lines are also called wave eaters. I am not a physicist or a hydrologist but I do recall around the time Mark Spitz broke all his records and won his 7 medals the commentators talked about a new pool design that has been 'de rigueur,' perhaps before but certainly ever since, and that is to cut down on the wave action. But honestly I believe it has to do with the design of the lanes especially at the ends of the pool where the waves get buffered and absorbed. Keeping the wave harmonic distortion down keeps resistance down and therefore times improve because of fewer waves. That's it. Perhaps a physicist can better explain or even better a pool designer.