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.
FindingMyInnerFish, your name is so funny. I should think of something like SeekingMyOwnPersonalLane.
I didn't get to the masters swim, but am back in the pool after a week and a half layoff due to my dog's illness. It was crowded. At 6:30 a,m. I asked ladies in two separate lanes if I could share, and they both hemmed and hawed, and basically looked so uncomfortable I wound up on the the shallow side until one of them left and I was able to grab her lane. I've offered to share my lane with water walkers, which doesn't bother me. They don't clobber me with arms, fins, or watches LOL.
FindingMyInnerFish, your name is so funny. I should think of something like SeekingMyOwnPersonalLane.
I didn't get to the masters swim, but am back in the pool after a week and a half layoff due to my dog's illness. It was crowded. At 6:30 a,m. I asked ladies in two separate lanes if I could share, and they both hemmed and hawed, and basically looked so uncomfortable I wound up on the the shallow side until one of them left and I was able to grab her lane. I've offered to share my lane with water walkers, which doesn't bother me. They don't clobber me with arms, fins, or watches LOL.
At my Y, during the lap swim period, they don't like to let swimmers in the water walking lane--even if there's room. (As one lady said, "I get splashed"--and I want to say "um, sweetie, you're in a POOL which is filled with water. There's a nice track across the street and treadmills upstairs....")
OTOH, the lifeguard in the morning is activist--he will notice who swims compatibly with whom, and sometimes call on us to move to compatible lanes. If people ask to share, I'm cool. And mostly no one seems to object to my sharing. They kind of expect us to be willing to share. Of course, I've had people come in with very wide breaststrokes or who half-walk, half swim or who almost float from end to end. Those folks are the toughest to swim with. I give them credit for getting into the pool and doing some kind of exercise--just it's hard to work around such individuals.
Typically, if someone comes to my lane with, say, a pull buoy and kickboard, I'm relieved b/c that person usually has lane-sharing experience and is better about negotiating for space.
Thanks, knelson. I didn't know that you could just get in. I thought you had to get permission, so if she continues to be rude, I'll just hop in and she can float around me.
I wouldn't want to absolutely guarantee it, but that's the general rule everywhere I've swum. You can probably check with the lifeguards or other pool staff.
I wouldn't want to absolutely guarantee it, but that's the general rule everywhere I've swum. You can probably check with the lifeguards or other pool staff.
This should be the 'rule'. Where I swim, nobody gets it, though. We don't have very many actual swimmers (people swimming organized swim workouts, I suppose), but everyone seems to think that if they are the first in a lane, they own it. I just jump in with the person I think I will disrupt the least and ask if they circle swim. Some people look at me as if I'd suggested we do away with our suits for the day.
I do disagree with the sentiment that just because someone is walking or hopping or whatever that their workout is less important than mine just because I am swimming. I just wish they'd realize that about 20 people can share a lane while working out like that, and that three friends walking together don't need all 4 lanes.
Jimbosback, I hear what you're saying about water walkers, though where I swim most of them are going way too slow or taking it much too easy to derive any benefit other than getting their suit wet. The ones with shower caps just crack me up, but hey, that could be me in ten years.:afraid:The way I see it, they have the whole shallow end open to them. It's fine for what they're doing. You don't need to hog a lap lane to push weights around or hang onto a noodle. I'll share my lane with them, though, but apparently they don't want to. The looks I get when I ask to share could drop the pool temp to uncomfortably cold.
Forgive the rant, but what's with some people?:bitching: This morning I got to the pool at 6:30 and all the lanes were taken. There's this one woman who spends her entire workout floating on her back in the middle of the lane. 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. The lane is not super wide, but there's room for two people if one isn't floating down the middle on her back. A nice young woman offered to share her lane with me or I'd have been either standing around waiting or in the shallow end with an early morning class. Grrrrrrrr.:frustrated:
Forgive the rant, but what's with some people?:bitching: This morning I got to the pool at 6:30 and all the lanes were taken. There's this one woman who spends her entire workout floating on her back in the middle of the lane. 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. The lane is not super wide, but there's room for two people if one isn't floating down the middle on her back. A nice young woman offered to share her lane with me or I'd have been either standing around waiting or in the shallow end with an early morning class. Grrrrrrrr.:frustrated:
I feel your pain! Frustrating when that happens! Maybe she was afraid of sharing, but still, that's something one has to negotiate if there are more people than lanes. Sometimes it's worth talking to the lifeguard--we have one guy who's very good about getting people to work together and will intervene if someone's hogging a lane. (But I know not all lifeguards are like this guy.)
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.
