World Records in Beijing's Water Cube

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Get set for another record - the world record for world records

Cowley | August 14, 2008

IS it the fast pool, the fast swimsuits or the fast swimmers? Why are

so many records are being broken in Beijing's Water Cube?

In just five days of competition there have been 16 world records in

the pool. In Athens four years ago, there were eight world marks set

in the entire program and five of those came in relays.

Obviously, the new high-tech Speedo LZR Racer suits, which have been

worn in more than 60 world record performances since their release in

February, are playing a role. But how big a part?

" I think they are an easy thing to point at, " Australian coach Alan

said. " It's something that you see and it's different, so

you point at it and say that's the reason. It might be the reason

once but it's not the reason all the time, and I think we just

continue to take away from the performance of all these guys.

" Coaches are very observant people all around the world and the big

thing they saw in Melbourne [at the world titles] was []

Phelps's underwater work, and obviously he's a leader in that and

that's been so dominant in a lot of coaches' minds since then. We

call it the fifth stroke now.

" I think we've probably got some of the greatest coaches coaching at

the moment, innovative coaches who keep looking for the edge. These

guys keep lifting the bar all the time and everyone keeps needing to

follow. It's not just one thing but the bar will continue to be

lifted, and while that continues to happen, the sport will continue

getting faster. "

is correct, sometimes the suit debate can overshadow amazing

performances, but there are also other factors, such as the " fast

pool " . Yes, they do exist, and the one in the Cube is lightning quick.

This pool is deep - three metres - a metre deeper than usual. This

means there is less resistance and turbulence off the bottom for the

swimmers.

It's also wider, with one empty lane either side, which means any

waves can be dissipated into those lanes, then into the gutter, which

is a simple overflow system. That means the water runs into the

drains and away, rather than bouncing off a raised gutter and back

into the pool as waves.

Then there are the anti-wave lane ropes, designed so that swimmers

don't get any wash from their opponents' in other lanes, meaning they

can swim in calm water. In the days before such ropes, swimmers

sometimes had to deal with surf-like conditions.

" I think the pools are very important, the lane ropes, the overflow

gutters … all make a big difference, " said. " The times are

still coming down because the competition is becoming so much

greater. You can't just put you're finger on one thing. "

Whatever the reason, the sport is moving faster than it ever has.

There have been 45 long-course world records set so far this year. At

this rate we will pass the record for long course world records, set

in 1976 when 61 were set - the era of steroid-powered East German

swimmers.

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Carruthers

Wakefield, UK