Before you order your swimming lane lines, you should consider the material, color and functionality. What you choose will come down to how patrons use your pool and what organization’s standards you need to comply with.
Get a full overview of how to ensure your lane lines work well for your long-term needs.
Swimming Lane Line Material
All swim lane lines are not made from the same material. The better the material, the better job the lane lines will do of creating a competitive swim environment.
The higher the quality of the materials, the longer they will last too. Pools are harsh environments due to the chemicals required to keep them clean and looking good.
Competitor Swim uses polyethylene discs on a vinyl-coated stainless steel cable. The cable is unlikely to rust and the discs won’t discolor when subjected to pool water for long periods.
Another way to protect your lane lines from damage no matter the material they are made from is to roll them up using a stor reel specifically designed for lane lines. Competitor Swim offers these reels with customization options to further make your pool distinctive.
Swimming Lane Line Color
You can customize your swimming lane line colors to meet your specifications and preferred patterns.
Competitor Swim offers 14 colors available. Discs come in large and small, and donuts are available too. However, before you get too fancy with those color options, learn more about World Aquatics regulations to ensure your pool is ready to host swimming competitions.
Under these regulations, you’ll need two green ropes for lanes one and eight. Four blue ropes to delineate lanes two, three, six and seven. And finally, three yellow ropes to separate lanes four and five.
US Swimming has less strict rules, allowing the colors to alternate between two colors instead of stating the exact colors that should be used in each lane.
When designing your lane lines, you should also use color to help swimmers know where they are in the lane. Use a contrasting color as a resurfacing marker. Include red at the end of the lane line so swimmers know they are approaching the wall. Using colors in this way will make your pool safer.
Here’s a look at the colors you can use to customize your swim racing lanes from Competitor Swim.
- White
- Black
- Red
- Maroon
- Orange
- Yellow
- Vegas gold
- Green
- Sky blue
- Blue
- Navy
- Purple
- Gray
- Burgundy
Swimming Lane Line Functionality
Evaluate how people use your pool. Is it solely for competition and training where the standards are high and you cater mostly to elite competitors? Or do younger competitors use your pool more frequently, allowing more room for fun and whimsy in the colors?
When your pool is for everyday use cases, you can get away with a simpler lane line design. That’s because you don’t need your lane lines to dampen the waves. All your lane lines are doing in this case is defining one lane from another to avoid athlete collisions.
Pools primarily for training and competitions should use swim lane lines with six-inch diameter discs designed for quelling waves and creating a fair environment for everyone – no matter the lane they are assigned to.
Double-check that you know whether you have a 25-yard, 25-meter or 50-meter pool. Don’t make assumptions because you don’t want to buy custom lane lines only to realize you bought the wrong size.
Need Expert Guidance in Selecting Your Lane Lines?
Competitor Swim is the official lane line of the NCAA and US Swimming. Our team has helped pools across the country outfit their pools in line with industry standards. We’ll guide you through the process of outfitting your pool and make recommendations for colors, sizes, etc., based on your pool’s unique characteristics. For more, review the rules and regulations page provided on our website or talk with our team by calling 1-800-888-7946. We’re ready to help.
