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've asked her to share the lane before and she said no. I asked her to share the lane this morning, and she said no.
There's only one thing to do in this situation and that's to just get in the lane and tell the person she's going to be sharing the lane. No one has an exclusive right to their own private lane.
This is NOT being rude. This is the accepted lap swimming protocol. You should alert anyone else in the lane that you are going to join them, but you don't need to ask permission to join.
I've asked her to share the lane before and she said no. I asked her to share the lane this morning, and she said no.
There's only one thing to do in this situation and that's to just get in the lane and tell the person she's going to be sharing the lane. No one has an exclusive right to their own private lane.
This is NOT being rude. This is the accepted lap swimming protocol. You should alert anyone else in the lane that you are going to join them, but you don't need to ask permission to join.
