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Competition area

• Swimming pool - competitive swimming events can take place in both 25 metre and 50 metre pools.
• Lanes - each swimming pool is split into eight separate lanes of 2.75 m and the outer lanes must have an additional empty space of 40 cm of water.
• Ropes – the outer lanes must have a green rope, four blue ropes for lanes 2, 3, 6 and 7, and three yellow ropes for lanes 4 and 5. The last five metres of the ropes are red to indicate the end of the pool.
• Starting block – the top of the starting platform should not be less than 50 cm by 50 cm and slope no more than 10°. The entire surface of the platform should be covered with a permanent non-slip material.

Competitors

Swimming is an individual or team collection of races and distances that consist of five major strokes, namely freestyle, backstroke, breaststroke, butterfly and the individual medley, which is a combination of the four other styles.

Unlike athletics, both men and women compete at all the above events.