I'm a newbie and just had my first practice yesterday sharing the lane with other swimmers. There were five of us, and it was horrible. I could barely get across one length of the pool and I actually panicked because I've never swum with others in the lane, certainly not four or five other people, and I was afraid of hitting or being hit. I stayed close to the rope, so much that I hit it a few times. Now I'm thinking, should I have joined this program? Am I one of those people who just prefers to swim alone? It was pretty scary.
I know those of you who do this all the time probably think, pffffft. No biggie. But I've never been so tense in the pool and when I swim on my own, I'm fine, do lots of laps for about an hour with very few breaks, so I know it's not my skill level. But I don't even know if I want to go back to a practice. I got bumped a few times, bumped into someone else, and basically made a fool of myself.
I also noticed that certain people displace the water an awful lot, and that was a new sensation.
I can sympathize--I started masters swimming as an adult, having never swum in competition as a kid (except for the recreation program swim meets that any of us could participate, and I was always either last or second last in those). I find it hard to share lanes even with one or two people, let alone 5, but I've at least gotten more or less used to it, and yes, still hit lane lines, but manage to survive. :) I'm in a group now where those of us ... um velocity challenged... swimmers share a section of the pool with no lane markers, and oddly I like that better. We're all so polite to on another and somehow seem to sort out the space we share in ways that are harder with narrower lanes. It's a friendly group, so we don't get too unnerved over almost-collisions. (I have gotten stressed over my lack of kicking ability but that's another story--and even then, the others in the group were very consoling.)
I must apologize--I've been known to wear watches (a hold-over from running), but usually by myself when there's no pace clock... when I'm in a practice, I've learned to leave the watch in my bag (a habit helped somewhat by my having forgotten and thus lost a watch at one practice when I took it off and left it on the deck, then didn't take it with me afterward).
I still find that it's hard to focus on my technique when swimming in a narrow lane that I'm sharing. But I'm not as worried about this fact. T'is what it t'is. :chillpill:
I can sympathize--I started masters swimming as an adult, having never swum in competition as a kid (except for the recreation program swim meets that any of us could participate, and I was always either last or second last in those). I find it hard to share lanes even with one or two people, let alone 5, but I've at least gotten more or less used to it, and yes, still hit lane lines, but manage to survive. :) I'm in a group now where those of us ... um velocity challenged... swimmers share a section of the pool with no lane markers, and oddly I like that better. We're all so polite to on another and somehow seem to sort out the space we share in ways that are harder with narrower lanes. It's a friendly group, so we don't get too unnerved over almost-collisions. (I have gotten stressed over my lack of kicking ability but that's another story--and even then, the others in the group were very consoling.)
I must apologize--I've been known to wear watches (a hold-over from running), but usually by myself when there's no pace clock... when I'm in a practice, I've learned to leave the watch in my bag (a habit helped somewhat by my having forgotten and thus lost a watch at one practice when I took it off and left it on the deck, then didn't take it with me afterward).
I still find that it's hard to focus on my technique when swimming in a narrow lane that I'm sharing. But I'm not as worried about this fact. T'is what it t'is. :chillpill:
