How to pass or be passed in workout

Sounds simple, right? It is, if everyone cooperates. When overtaking someone in your lane (presuming freestyle is being swum), tap their foot on one stroke so they will not be surprised to see you so close behind. Wait for a couple of strokes to find out what they intend to do and pass accordingly. Tap the foot. That is the signal that you want to pass. Surprise is unwelcome in most practice lanes. When swimming in a lane with others and someone taps your foot, that means they want to pass. It doesn't mean they want to race. It doesn't mean they want to talk or fight. When your foot is tapped, it is not a signal to speed up. There are no swimmers alive that have never been passed in workout... You are not alone in the lane, don't act like you are... Some people severely lack an understanding of passing etiquette, so I'm happy to see this thread. It's definitely been over 5 years since I flipped out on someone at a pool for repeated offenses of common sense. In my advanced age, I decided it's better if the age groupers don't think I'm crazy for how serious I take this sport. So I don't get noticeably angry any more, but I will politely teach kids my version of proper passing etiquette. I will note differences between lapping passing and non-lapping passing etiquette. Lapping passing: I strongly disagree with you on the toe touching. If you have to touch someone's toes, you've already had to decrease your pace. It's going to take time for the slower person to adjust and if they're close to a wall, they have to make a split second decision. On top of that, it's terribly annoying to have your feet touched and as rykno pointed out, that can be accidental. My take: Swimmers should be aware of their surroundings at all times. If you're training regularly with the same group, you should be well aware of how fast everyone is and the likelihood that you will get passed. If the set is comprised of 200's+, it's common sense that the leader might be coming up on you. Unless you're blind or doing all backstroke, you can see people progressively getting closer, regardless of whether or not you know the person. Slower swimmers need to be prepared to make an adjustment far before you get on their feet: moving as far right as possible. The absolute worst thing they can do is turn right in front of you in the middle of the lane if you don't pass in time. In a perfect situation: the lane is not crowded and the person getting passed can actually move into the far left of the lane instead of the far right. This allows them to continue at full speed through the turn and gives the passer more time to complete the pass without slowing down either. In crowded situations, I hope the slower swimmer will stop at the wall, but I understand if they want to continue. They must accept any contact that will happen at that point though. Non-lapping passing: Still disagree with the toe touching. If you wanted to lead the lane that badly, you should have led from the start of the set. Either wait until you reach the wall at the completion of the distance to request moving up in the lane, or pass the swimmer while causing as little contact as possible. Do not cut off the lane leader any at point. Respect that they've been giving you a draft and give some extra leeway as a result. Passing when swimming non-free gets pretty complicated. Everyone has to accept there's a greater chance for contact in those situations. If I'm getting passed, I keep doing my stroke, but try to hug the lane-line best I can. If I am doing the passing, I might switch to free to try and get the pass done quicker.

so what happens when you get the accidental tough? say the person behind you prefers to swim on your feet and draft the whole practice and when you slow down so do they, when you stop on the side and let them go, they say no that's ok you go first. Then don't stop, and quit worrying about the drag queen. He is only being lazy, and it helps you to pull the extra weight. You may not like it, but he is helping you, not him. It is amazing how confused this type of swimmer seem at a swim meet (on the rare occasion they attend one) when their time is so much slower than yours. if we have too many and we can't get three evenly paced lanes we don't swim anything over 100m preventing the need to pass anyone. Problem solved.

With my bad ankle I have a fear of being tapped. It is a tap, usually on the toe, usually with the fingertips. Not a closed fist punch. Those are for the locker room.

and it helps you to pull the extra weight. Maybe you're kidding, but just wanted to point out that someone drafting doesn't affect the speed of the lead swimmer. If anything it makes them faster--but probably it doesn't affect them at all (other than the annoyance).

If everything works right no one should need to stop at the wall or even do an open turn. The swimmer being passed just needs to maintain their pace, stay as far right as possible, and avoid cutting off the passing swimmer at the wall. I think this is generally true but sometimes stuff happens. Like, for instance, the guys that usually flash and burn out at 45 minutes into practice but, for whatever reason, they burn out at 30 minutes one day and haven't rightly assumed their position at the end. Or, the prideful swimmer, who can't handle a bad day and won't give up the position. We had 2/4 in my lane today blow up on a hard set and resort to wall hanging fortunately. Passing on a hard set mid-lane is the worst. I swim with a courteous group and it is rarely an issue. People know when to slide over.

Passing on a hard set mid-lane is the worst. I swim with a courteous group and it is rarely an issue. People know when to slide over. I agree and I really think in masters the courteous thing to do is just stop at the wall if you're going to be passed. We're not training for the Olympics, after all. Of course the time when you really are forced to pass is during generic "lap swim" times when you may be swimming at twice the speed of your lane mate(s). Unfortunately these swimmers also tend to know the least about lane etiquette.

I strongly disagree with you on the toe touching. If you have to touch someone's toes, you've already had to decrease your pace. The toe touch presumes that the overtaken person is not aware that he is being lapped/passed. Ideally, everyone knows where everyone else is in the lane. I do. They should also know the relative speeds of their lane mates. But that is not a common case, just like the number of people who can read a pace clock and leave on the correct interval. Another item that I left out that I was reminded of this morning: passing by turning around in the middle of the pool is CHEATING. A former coach of mine looked dimly on this practice and solved it rapidly: the first time someone was caught turning in the middle, practice was stopped while everyone watched the offender swim a 200 fly. The second time it happened, the offender swam a 500 fly and the rest of the team swam 200 fly. There was never a third time.

Maybe you're kidding, but just wanted to point out that someone drafting doesn't affect the speed of the lead swimmer. If anything it makes them faster--but probably it doesn't affect them at all (other than the annoyance). It was kind of kidding, but the point is that being annoyed is not helping you in practice. Taking the position that they are helping you is a positive step for you and takes the power away from Mr. Drag. I do not know if there is any hydrodynamic evidence that you would be pulling his weight, but why not think that way? It is a training technique for which you don't have to pay or even think about. I used to have people drag on me a lot (when I was much younger). It bugged me for a wile, then I found ways to play with them. It made my legs much stronger and better yet, it made them annoyed.

It is a tap, usually on the toe, usually with the fingertips. Not a closed fist punch. Those are for the locker room. If someone taps too hard and pushes my foot out of its position it can severely hurt me. I'm not even allowed to jump in the pool now for what it does to my foot.

I do not know if there is any hydrodynamic evidence that you would be pulling his weight There isn't. The reason I said it could actually be an advantage is the trailing swimmer might act as a fairing which reduces the size of your wake. I really can't imagine this accounts for much, but having someone on your feet definitely won't hurt you, either.