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.
Former Member
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.
My mother in law is a water walker; you'd think she was doing herself no good just to look at her workout, but I've definitely seen improvement. She's got severe back problems, an artificial hip and two artificial knees, but since she started walking slowly in the pool she's almost completely stopped using a cane and I haven't seen her use the scooter at the grocery store in years. She's not losing weight, but her life is a little better.
That's what I try to remind myself when I get to the pool and see a walker in a swim lane. But boy, it is frustrating. My pool has a double-size lane on the side with the nice, broad stair-style entry, and goodness knows you can fit plenty of walkers in that area, so why don't they all just go in there? Thankfully, though, none of our walkers are prissy; I've never heard any of them complain about swimmers. They just quietly do their thing while we do ours.
My complaint is that the walkers don't want to share the lane, but I checked with our rec center manager and they aren't allowed to deny me or anyone else access. I'm pretty slow, and I don't get in anybody's way, so I'm going to ask politely and not going to take no for an answer anymore.
:applaud: You tell 'em, Denise. Just give them a big :D as you say it, and then start swimmin' and don't stop! :cheerleader:
loonytick, that's amazing your mil has made progress. Good for her. I convinced mine to get back to the gym because I could see lack of exercise was making her slow down. She's pretty amazing. She gets to the gym more than I do. She's in her 80s and in great shape with no walking, balance, or back problems.
My complaint is that the walkers don't want to share the lane, but I checked with our rec center manager and they aren't allowed to deny me or anyone else access. I'm pretty slow, and I don't get in anybody's way, so I'm going to ask politely and not going to take no for an answer anymore.
