Had a great time at the Atlanta Short Course Nationals event, however what was up with the lack of pool etiquette in the warm-up/down pools? I have competed in triathlons and open water swims and this event by far was the most dangerous swim experience in terms of etiquette. I spoke with many swimmers who felt the same.
In the warm-up/warm-down pools, I had someone actually jump in as aggressively as they could on top of me, pushing me under. The one time I tried to warm-up in the competition pool during a break, I was pushed in the head and told "Move" & when it was completely crowded with no where to go, I had someone pull my leg, push on my lower back, push me under the water and then they actually swam over top of me to get in front, which was pointless as everyone was touching? Really? I was also very disappointed to hear that younger swimmers were not only crowding the 65+ designated lanes, but were actually just as dangerous and argumentative with the older swimmers. Really?
Perhaps we need a revised USMS Pool etiquette for Nationals and similar type events in addition to the following,
www.usms.org/.../pooletiquette
FWIW, I commented more than once that I thought the warm up pool was surprisingly civilized this year. With almost 2,000 swimmers, I expected the worst, but was generally able to get in a decent warm up each day, both in the competition pool and the dive well. I thought Austin was far worse, especially in regard to people hanging on the walls.
Obviously, other folks had different experiences, but I didn't experience or observe anything this year that I thought was too out of line.
FWIW, I commented more than once that I thought the warm up pool was surprisingly civilized this year. With almost 2,000 swimmers, I expected the worst, but was generally able to get in a decent warm up each day, both in the competition pool and the dive well. I thought Austin was far worse, especially in regard to people hanging on the walls.
Obviously, other folks had different experiences, but I didn't experience or observe anything this year that I thought was too out of line.
