Swimming Records and Drafting

Here's an article that I found today.  I saw a posting in another thread that mentioned swim drafting.  I think this is interesting (mainly because I'm a weak swimmer) but the pool design in Beijing is different:

"More sophisticated pool design has also helped to dissipate wave action that can slow a swimmer. The Olympic pool in Beijing is three meters deep, compared to two meters, or 6 feet, for many racing pools. The added depth is designed to lessen water resistance for swimmers by insulating them from turbulence that rebounds off the bottom of a shallower pool.

For major international competitions, like the Olympics, the pool is 10 lanes wide, instead of eight. The two empty outside lanes serve as buffers, keeping the waves from ricocheting, dispersing them instead to a gutter system that is flush with the surface of the water.

The plastic buoys that serve as lane dividers, or lane lines, are designed to direct water downward instead of outward. The nonskid starting blocks are meant to facilitate a propulsive takeoff, somewhat similar to track and field, which can shave valuable ticks off the clock."

 Full Article Here