27/08/2013Swimming Pool Facts

Below we have put together a list of some of the most interesting swimming pool facts:

• There are 8.8 million residential and public-use swimming pools in the United States.
• Swimming is the third most-popular sport or activity in the U.S. No. 1 is walking and No. 2 is exercising with equipment.
• According to statistics, 41 percent of children aged 7-17 years, and 17.4 percent of adults go swimming in the United States during an average year.
• Of the above-mentioned. 41 percent of children and 17.4 percent of adults in the U.S. who swim, each person makes at least six pool visits in one year.
• There are more than 6.6 million hot tubs in operation in the U.S., according to a study conducted by Pool and Spa Marketing.
• Did you know that swimming is the 4th most popular sport or activity in the United States, but 65 percent of Americans don’t know how to swim? Even worse, 17 percent admit to peeing in swimming pools.
• Roughly 70 percent of an adult’s body is made up of water.
• Porcupines float on water.
• Somewhere between 70 and 75 percent of the earth’s surface is covered with water.
• The first ocean liner with a swimming pool is the Titanic.
• Niagara Falls can fill all U.S. swimming pools in 3 days!
• There is enough water in American swimming pools to cover the whole city of San Francisco seven feet deep.
• Kangaroos swim by moving their legs independently of each other……something that they can’t do on land!
• An armadillo can walk under water.
• While swimming, penguins will leap above the surface of the water, a practice called porpoising. This coats their plumage with tiny bubbles that reduce friction, allowing them to swim as fast as 20 miles per hour (32 kph).
• Egyptians used baths for therapeutic purposes as early as 2000 B.C.
• Porcupines float on water.
• Benjamin Franklin was an expert swimmer and invented swimming fins out of wood when he was a teenager.
• Water is used in physiotherapy to relieve muscle soreness by facilitating the removal of lactic acid.
• The longest swimming pool in the world is the Orthlieb swimming pool in Casablanca, Morocco. It is 480 meters (1574 feet) long and 75 meters (246 feet) wide. It is filled with sea water and covers 8.9 acres.
• Tuna swim at a steady speed of 9 mph & they never stop. That means a 15 year old tuna may have traveled 1,000,000 miles.
• Niagara Falls can fill all U.S. swimming pools in 3 days.
• There is enough water in American swimming pools to cover the whole city of San Francisco seven feet deep.
• The buoyancy of the water reduces body weight by almost 90 percent giving the body a well-deserved break from stiff and sore joints and muscles.
• 7-Eleven sells almost 38 million gallons of fountain drinks a year, enough to fill approximately 51 Olympic-size swimming pools.
• Some hotels in Las Vegas have gambling tables floating in their swimming pools.
• Egyptians made a picture/symbol for swimming as far back as 2500 A.D. Kangaroos swim by moving their legs independently of each other……something that they can’t do on land.
• Using their trunks as natural snorkels, elephants can swim as many as 20 miles a day.