Olympic Swimmer Gary Hall Sr. Says Paris Pool ‘Not Deep Enough’ to Set Records

• Only one world record in swimming has been broken thus far in the 2024 Paris Olympics
• 3x Olympic medalist Gary Hall Sr. tells PEOPLE he believes the reason is the shallow depth of the pool at La Défense Arena
• Katie Ledecky bested her Tokyo time in the 1500-meter freestyle on July 31, but came up short compared to her time in the 2018 TYR Pro Swim Series

Team USA has 21 medals for swimming this far in the Summer Olympics, but after the first seven days of the 2024 Games, none of the American swimmers have broken a world record in Paris.

PEOPLE enlisted three-time medalist Gary Hall Sr. to share his theory as to why.

“In these Games, it is more about racing than setting records,” says Hall Sr., 72.

Although China’s Pan Zhanle set a world record in the men’s 100-meter freestyle on July 31, he explains why records have been hard to come by.

“The reason is simple – the pool is not deep enough,” he says. The pool at La Défense Arena was “constructed at a depth of seven feet (2.16 meters), which is simply not deep enough to see the fastest swims possible,” he explains.

“With a shallower pool, all the waves, vortices and streams caused by the powerful swimmers churning down the lanes either get dissipated by the lane lines, overflow onto the gutters on the sides, or reflect off the bottom of the pool,” he continues.

“The latter contributes to the surface turbulence. The more turbulence or waves on the surface, the slower the swimmers go.”

Hall Sr. says the “difference” between a pool that is nine feet deep and one that is only seven feet deep is “significant” for swimmers.

“One of the fastest pools in history was the Olympic pool of the Los Angeles Coliseum, which was nine feet deep in the shallow end and 17 feet deep in the deep end,” he says, adding that he’s unsure why the pool in Paris was not made deeper for the Games.

“Why the Paris organizers did not add two more feet of depth to their Olympic pool, I have no idea,” says Hall Sr., who has 30 national titles and 10 world records to go with his three Olympic medals.

“Just watch the replay of the men’s 4×100 free relay. The surface waves were obvious and adversely affected all the swimmers. Same in all the other events,” he suggests.

Despite only a single world record being set thus far in the 2024 Games, Hall Sr. is expecting “we will still see some exciting races in Paris” and that the main goal for athletes in the long run (or long swim) is to take home medals rather than break world records.

“In the end, all records will be broken, but the medals of the Olympic Games can never be taken away,” he says.

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On July 31, Zhanle became the first athlete in Paris to break his own world record in swimming when he finished in 46.40 seconds. The timing bested the 19-year-old’s own record set in February at the world championships in Doha.

Hall Sr. now runs The Race Club in California. The group provides opportunities for swimmers at all levels around the world to participate in camps, coaching and other programs.

The former competitive swimmer has coached more than 50 Olympians since his retirement and in 2020, he authored Fundamentals of Fast Swimming: How to Improve Your Swim Technique with Kentucky Aquatics head coach Devin Murphy.

Team USA has seen success in the first days of the 2024 Games, including several stellar performances from Katie Ledecky.

Ledecky, 27, won gold in the 1500-meter freestyle — and won she won silver on Aug. 1 in the women’s 4×200-meter relay, she became the most decorated female American Olympian, with 13 medals.

When she was asked about her take on the shallow pool theory, Ledecky told reporters she’s “heard the rumblings,” “but at the end of the day we’re here to race,” according to the Associated Press.

“We’re all fast swimmers. We make the pool as fast as we want it to be. I’m not really thinking about it,” said Ledecky.

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