Swimming Pool Fun Facts
Dive Into Astounding Fun Facts About Pools
1. Evidence of the first swimming pool was around 2,000 BCE
Swimming was clearly a beloved sport for the ancient Egyptians who regularly used the River Nile for practice. We have to assume their favorite event was “try not to get eaten by a crocodile.” Evidence as far back as 2,500 BCE, however, shows that noblemen had their own personal swimming pools used by princes to learn and perfect the sport.
2. Expert swimmers train for up to 35 hours a week
Do you have dreams of making it to the Olympics? Be prepared to put in some serious hours. The average high-level swim competitor will train up to five hours a day for five to seven days a week. That means they can burn around 4,000 calories a day! (Who’s up for McDonald’s?)
3. There are over 10 million swimming pools worldwide
There are plenty of opportunities to learn how to swim, from visiting your local community center, heading to a water park, or building your own backyard swimming pool. As it turns out, Australia has more pools per capita than any other country in the world. We all those sharks, we’d stay out of the ocean too.
4. People love to play Marco Polo
The cries of “Marco!” and “Polo!” can be heard from neighborhoods across the country nearly every day. As it turns out, it’s the most popular swimming pool game, with Sharks and Minnows coming in at a close second.
5. The Titanic was the first ocean liner to have a swimming pool
It was also the first ocean liner to have a gym! Extra fun fact: The swimming pool is still filled.
6. The space shuttle’s turbo pump can drain a swimming pool in…
Though we don’t recommend trying this at home, the main engines’ turbo pump on the space shuttle can drain the average swimming pool in as little as 25 seconds. That’s almost as fast as Uncle Marty’s famous cannonball.
7. The first known concrete swimming pool was built in Texas
In 1915, a pool known as the Deep Eddy Swimming Pool was built in Austin, Texas. It started as a Colorado River swimming hole, transformed into a resort during the Depression, and now is a popular swim spot operated by the city.