POOL SIZES:

Standard European Pool:  revised Master Plan pool only 25 meters

25 meters long and 2 m to 2.5 meters deep

Use: is mostly for primary students to learn how to swim and their initial swimming certificates which are over 25 meters in distance according to our European and International standards.

Today this is one of the sizes recommended by Sports England, European and International bodies.   The other pool which is recommended by these international bodies is the 50 meter Olympic pool.

Limitations: During most school lessons the shallow end is cordoned off. This is the main problem with the 25 meter pool, its short distance which becomes a frustrating 18 meter pool most of the day, most days of the week for most of the users.

It can only be used as a 25 meter pool when the schools are no longer using it and cordoning off the shallow end.

Imperial Pool: currently our Seven Islands pool with 33 1/3 meters

33 and 1/3 meters long and 3.8 m deep

It is the oldest type of pool in the UK from the Victorian times, it used to be measured in yards (Imperial units of distance) which used to be 33 yards and 1/3 so 3 lengths were 100 yards. More recently they have been made in to 33 meters and 1/3 so three lengths makes now 100 meters. There may still be a few yard pools out there.

Use: In the past it used to be the standard pool in the UK for education, local sports, local competitions, it allows swimming longer distances, it is the right size for water polo and unlike the 25 meter Standard pool it supports many more sports for adults and children because of its depth it allows board diving and scuba diving practice, swimming at depth. All in all it is a much better design than the 25 meter pool in this respect.

Comparison with 25 meter pool: Even when school lessons are on and the shallow end is cordoned off, the 33 meter longer length gives other users a decent length to swim in and this is its great advantage over the Standard 25 meter pool, also its depth allows a wider range of sports, usually the 25 meter pools are made with only 2 or 2.5 meters deep which is not good for diving.

These pools were the most common but sadly they are being replaced as time goes by either the inferior 25 meter pool or the better 50 meter Olympic pool. Today pools as many other activities are heavily regulated and this very well designed pool which originated in Victorian times is no longer recommended.

Olympic Pool: originally proposed pool by 2005 Master Plan

Obviously this is the best pool to have, ideally with a 4 meter deep end to allow diving boards and scuba diving practice.

This pool is one of the two recommended by Sport England the European Union and International Bodies. All standards for aquatic sports internationally are measured in this pool except for the very early learners of primary schools who get a medal for swimming 25 meters, all the other competitions for children and adults are measured in the Olympic pool.

Distances swam in this pool: for instance for to cover 100 meters front crawl one flip turn is required (2 lengths) and this is universally accepted as the speed to cover 100 meters. On a 25 meter pool 3 flip turns are required (4 lengths) affecting the times and speeds and in a 33 meter pool only two flip turns are required (3 lengths). This is why all internationally recognised speeds are measured in an Olympic pool and not in any other, distances are composed with the number of flip turns required to cover the distance in a 50 meter pool, it gives a standard for any swimming style giving us the internationally recognized speed. There are none of these pools available anywhere in Southwark.

This pool is the original pool recommended by Southwark Council for the Master Plan of 2005 because it is the only way to improve on the 33 meter pool and the size of the development justified to have a pool of this nature. Today the Labour run Southwark Council has revised the Master plan in 2013 and reduced the size of the pool by half and increased the height of the buildings by a factor of 6.