Why are there flags over swimming pools?

If you’re here, you’ve noticed that there are flags hanging over almost every public pool that you have been to. What’s the purpose of these flags, you ask? It’s not some lifesaving device like some people speculate, nor are they just for show. The flags hang over the pool to let competitive swimmers know exactly how far away they are from the end of the pool.

Competitive swimming consists of four major strokes: freestyle, backstroke, breaststroke, and butterfly. Three of the four strokes are swum on your front…backstroke is not. When swimming backstroke, swimmers can’t just stop, turn to see how far away they are, then continue swimming! This doesn’t allow swimmers to finish their races fast. Instead, backstroke swimmers just swim until they see the flags, signaling they are close to the wall.

After lots of practice, swimmers know that when they see the flags, they are a set amount of strokes away from the wall. This number of strokes is different for every swimmer based on their size and swimming ability. But, no matter where you are, those flags are always five meters away from the wall, allowing you to use the same number of strokes in any pool. For me, that count is three for slow speeds and two for fast speeds in races. Knowing your stroke count lets swimmers be able to finish their races fast and beat the swimmer next to them.

Swimmers who are interested in learning their backstroke stroke count should try different amounts. Start in the middle of the pool and push off swimming backstroke until you see the flags. Start out with taking three strokes then hold that hand above your head and kick until your hand grabs the wall. If you had a lot of kicking, do it again, but this time take four strokes. Continue until you only kick on your back a for less than a second. That number is your backstroke stroke count!