Underwater swim

I have been swimming at a local YMCA for the past 11 years. They have had an on again and off again (mostly off) Masters program. I try to swim 3-4 times a week and have always performed essentially the same "routine" before my swim. Recently, I have been warned, and notified that I am at risk of being kicked out of the pool for my warm-up routine. I am fully aware of the risks involving hypoxic blackout. There seems to be some unclear rules regarding "No breath Holding", "only swim 2/3 the length underwater", "only swim 3/4 the length underwater" etc. Is this behavior unreasonably dangerous? Any suggestions? As a routine practice, I have always performed the following actions prior to my swimming workout: Kind of a weird thing but I always make it a habit of not ‘testing’ the water before jumping in. (Weird I know… but it’s habit) I place my goggles on my head standing at pools edge and jump in. I quickly surface, take a breath and perform a dolphin kick swim underwater the length of the pool. (25 Yds). Upon surfacing, I begin a series of leisurely freestyle strokes, and transition to drills before engaging in my main sets that are approx. 2500-4000 yds. At no time whatsoever, do I attempt to engage in hyperventilation followed by underwater breath holding, or repetitive underwater laps. Never!
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  • At one pool I lifeguarded at in college, there was a guy that would come in and swim an entire workout consisting of underwater laps of breaststroke pulldowns. He would go so slowly and stand so completely still with his head bowed in between each length that it was extremely unnerving. But, being that it was an old-money country club with that accompanying sense of entitlement from members and there was no specific pool rule against what he was doing, there wasn't much I could do. I guess my point is, depending on how you look doing your underwater length, I can understand the lifeguards' trepidation. Have you tried explaining yourself? If you have and haven't gotten anywhere, you might just have to drop that portion of your warmup if you wish to continue swimming at that pool.
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  • At one pool I lifeguarded at in college, there was a guy that would come in and swim an entire workout consisting of underwater laps of breaststroke pulldowns. He would go so slowly and stand so completely still with his head bowed in between each length that it was extremely unnerving. But, being that it was an old-money country club with that accompanying sense of entitlement from members and there was no specific pool rule against what he was doing, there wasn't much I could do. I guess my point is, depending on how you look doing your underwater length, I can understand the lifeguards' trepidation. Have you tried explaining yourself? If you have and haven't gotten anywhere, you might just have to drop that portion of your warmup if you wish to continue swimming at that pool.
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