Quick answer: If you have a long, narrow block and want to swim real laps, a fibreglass lap pool is the purest option. Our 13m Lap Pool is 13.5m long and 3m wide. If your yard is shorter, a swim jet lets you swim against a current without turning. It's best planned in at installation, because the jet is fitted into the pool wall.
Not always. It depends on how you swim and how much yard you have. A lap pool gives you the feel of a public pool: push off, swim, tumble or turn, repeat. A swim jet gives you a steady current to swim against, so you never reach the wall. Both work. The right one comes down to your block, your budget and the kind of swimming you'll actually do.
If you're still working out what fits your yard, start with what size pool should you get.
Longer is better for rhythm, but a home lap pool doesn't need to be Olympic length. Most home swimmers want enough length to settle into a stroke before turning. Our fibreglass lap pool is 13.5m long and 3m wide, one of the longest shells that can travel by road in one piece.
Check three things before you choose a lap pool:
A swim jet is a pump-driven unit set into the pool wall that pushes a broad, steady current of water across the pool. You swim into it and stay in place, like a treadmill for swimming. Most units let you adjust the strength, so the same jet can suit a beginner, a fitness swimmer and kids playing in the current.
| Fibreglass lap pool | Shorter pool with a swim jet | |
|---|---|---|
| Space needed | A long, narrow strip (13.5m x 3m shell plus surrounds) | A standard family pool footprint |
| How you swim | Real laps with turns | Continuous swimming in place against a current |
| Best for | Regular lap swimmers, triathletes, long narrow blocks | Smaller yards, families who want play space plus fitness |
| Extra equipment | Standard filtration package | Swim jet unit, its pump and a dedicated power supply |
| When to decide | At the design stage | At the design stage (fitted into the wall at install) |
| Trades | Excavator, crane, plumber, electrician, fencer | Same, with the plumber and licensed electrician also connecting the jet |
It's possible in some cases, but it's far easier to plan it in from the start. A flush-mounted jet needs an opening and fittings in the shell wall, plumbing back to its pump, and a dedicated power supply wired by a licensed electrician. Doing that once, while the pool is being installed, avoids cutting into a finished pool and digging up new paving.
No. Both need the same approval and a compliant pool barrier in your state. In NSW you'll also register the pool, and in Queensland you'll need a pool safety certificate before it's used. Our guides walk you through it: NSW pool approval and registration, QLD pool safety certificates and pool fence rules in Australia.
If you're buying a pool to train in, heating is what turns it into a year-round habit. Madimack heat pumps in our range start the Summer Eco 9kW and run up to 40kW. Add a cover to keep that heat in. Compare options in heat pump vs solar pool heating.
The shell, equipment package and site costs set your total. Equipment packages start from $4,699 for our Signature) and a swim jet is an extra on top of the package. For a real figure for your pool, use the pool price calculator.
For fitness, a good swim jet gives you continuous swimming without turns, which many swimmers like. A lap pool feels more like a public pool. Choose based on your block length and how you like to swim.
Our 13m Lap Pool is 13.5m long and 3m wide.
You manage the project, but the jet is plumbed in by your plumber and its power supply must be wired by a licensed electrician.
Before installation. The jet is fitted into the pool wall, so planning it in when the shell goes in is simpler and cheaper than retrofitting.
Yes. Every pool needs a compliant barrier under your state's rules before it can be filled and used.
Planning a pool you'll actually train in?
Get a real price for a lap pool, or a family pool with a swim jet, in under a minute. Then talk to our team about your block.
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