List of swimming pools

This is a list of notable swimming pools, especially full long course 50 by 25 metres (164 ft × 82 ft) ones suited for Olympic competitions (with 10 lanes, just 8 used, and 2m or more deep). This also includes current and past pools with historical or architectural importance. It is not intended to include hot springs pools except where actual swimming, as opposed to bathing or wading, is possible.
Organized swimming as a competitive sport seems to have emerged in England in the 1830s, after the first indoor swimming pool of some type, at St. George's Baths, was opened in 1828. Swimming was included in the first Olympics of modern times, in Athens in 1896, with competition held in the Bay of Zea at Piraeus, about 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) from the stadium where many events were held. In the 1900 Summer Olympics in Paris, swimming was in the Seine. The 1904 Summer Olympics, the only Olympic games where the yard was the measure for setting racing distances, was held at a lake in Forest Park, in St. Louis, Missouri. The first Olympic swimming pool was used in the 1908 Summer Olympics, in London, outdoors in the infield of White City Stadium (demolished in 1985).
In modern times, an Olympic pool may be used for a competition, and then moved to be used elsewhere. This what happened with pools at the Olympic Aquatics Stadium and the Maria Lenk Aquatic Center of the 2016 Summer Olympics: these were transformed into four 50 meter pools in Manaus (4000 km west of Rio), Salvador de Bahia (1600 km north), Guarantiguetà (250 km west) and Fortaleza de São João (20 km away within Rio). And for the 2028 Summer Olympics, a baseball stadium in Los Angeles will be modified into a temporary aquatics venue to host the swimming, synchronized swimming and diving events.
World Aquatics (Previously FINA) sets standards for swimming pools used in international competitions. Its requirements are not met by many "Olympic-sized" pools; for example of the 15 or more Olympic-sized pools in the Philippines, only the one at New Clark City Aquatics Center is FINA-certified. FINA's requirement that a pool must be 2 meters deep (with 3 meters recommended) is met by some pools elsewhere being adjustable in depth at their shallow ends, such for the competition pool in Tromsø, Norway.
Specialization of Kenya, other East African countries in track, of Cuba in boxing, has been attributed by some to their lack of investment in pools and other athletic facilities. There have been numerous calls within countries for Olympic level facilities, e.g. Kenya below, even in developed nations such as Canada, where the capital region around Ottawa is deemed to be under-served. Just as it is hard for a tropical nation to develop what's needed to be competitive in bobsled, so is it difficult for many nations to afford the upfront and high continuing costs of Olympic pools, given other needs.
In recent years, there has been possibility for some third world countries to obtain needed investment through China's Belt and Road program. "Chinese construction companies also helped the Government of Kenya build a US$52 million sports stadium with a seating capacity of 60,000 people, an Olympic-size swimming pool, and a modern gymnasium to host the fourth All-Africa games ..." Plan for initiative to build an Olympic stadium in Kuwait.
No instances of Western nations constructing aquatic centers in Third World countries come to mind. In some cases, competition-level facilities were built for an Olympics or other international competition, only to fall quickly into disrepair. That appears to have happened in Kenya and more recently in Rio de Janeiro. For the latter, however, plans were in place to repurpose some of its pools to other locations, and more repurposing ended up being done given deteriorating conditions of arenas.
Swimming pools, worldwide, are numerous. For the facilities that have actually been used in an Olympics, see List of Olympic venues in swimming. For very large ones, see List of largest swimming pools.
Facilities by nation include:
Piscine du Complexe Olympique, Algiers, used in 2007 All-Africa Games. The 1978 All-Africa Games were also held in Algiers.
50 m pools in Canada, from west to east, include:
British Columbia:
Alberta:
Manitoba:
Ontario: Toronto
Ontario: Ottawa
Ontario: Guelph
Quebec: Montreal:
Nova Scotia: Halifax
Note: 1985 call in the National Assembly for an Olympic pool, among other facilities, so we are not limited to track events.
Norway has four "Olympic-sized" pools, including:
Other pools include:
"Unfortunately, in Pakistan there is actually a lack of swimming pools and facilities. There is only one swimming pool in the entire country of international quality, ... At the age of thirteen, she became Pakistan's first female Olympic swimmer at the 2004 Summer Olympic games."
There were 15 Olympic-sized (50 by 15 metres (164 ft × 49 ft)) pools and more being built, as of 2019, in the Philippines, and about 20 other 50-meter pools.
The UK has numerous Olympic-size pools itemized in List of long course swimming pools in the United Kingdom. Selected ones from that list, and other notable pools of the UK include: