What can make a potentially great pool and swim meet (78-80 degree deep water, wide lanes, great gutter system, good starting blocks, great lighting, large scoreboard, excellent officials, etc.) into a mediocre one? The lane lines.
We recently swam our championships in a new state-of-the-art pool. The only problem was the slack lane lines. The water was very choppy and continued that way throughout the whole race. They served no more purpose than the old “floaties” we used 45 years ago. They were so loose they visibly rose and fell with the waves and had so many horizontal waves they looked like serpents at the surface. The lane lines did not cut the waves but rather rode them. When there was a race with an open lane, the waves pushed the lane lines well into the free lane. Predictably overall times were not as fast as they could have been.
It is not necessary to have the lane lines are tight as a piano wire in order for them to be effective, but tightening them up for a meet is an area that is most often neglected. We work too hard at our craft not to be given every opportunity to swim as fast as the pool allows.
Parents
Former Member
I debated whether to post this or to respond to Shaky privately by email. As this situation (coexistence of in-water groups with differing needs and activities) is common, and often results in undesirable tensions between participants, I perceive others may find value in my response. In the long run, all of us having an interest in the use pools for real swimming, whether it is lap swimming or organized workouts, are all affected by how the rest of the world, particularly facility adminstrators see us. One person's actions have a ripple effect on others.
First, in a facility for which I had responsibility, it would not be the lifeguard (likely a college student) who would assess a suspension of privileges. He/she would simply be the dispassionate observer/messenger. It would be me, the facility director, that would make that call. As someone responsible for the safety and comfort of ALL the facility patrons I would have three major considerations in this situation, as follows:
Safety - My comment about being suspended from the facility was motivated by your response to Jean's comment about aerobics people who "lay their equipment (woggles, those leg weight things) on the lane line". You said that the way you handle it is to "stop, grab whatever it is and hurl it to the deck at the far side of the pool". I make the assumption that throwing of ANY object is specifically prohibited by the rules at your pool. It definitely is at every pool I've ever worked at. Throwing something like leg weights, which could do real harm to any person on the receiving end, however unintentional, would not just be a violation of the rules but, clearly, an egregious violation.
Civility - Among other things, my responsibility as a facility operator would be to quickly eliminate uncivilized/anti-social behavior on the part of any patron. It would seem that your original post was intended to show that you were being proactive to solve your problem. It would also seem that your actions were calculated to dramatize to the aerobics people your displeasure and frustration with the situation. By your description of the reaction the aerobics people have to your behavior, it would appear that when you engage in such a display you are successful. I also get the impression that you are aware that your actions were not exactly perceived, by the aerobics people, as civilized.
Pattern of behavior - You don't say so specifically, but your post implies that you have engaged in such a demonstration on more than one occasion. While I can conceive of circumstances where a first occurrence might only receive a warning, I can't imagine allowing repetitive occurrences.
Acceptable alternatives to hurling equipment include such actions as 1) simply pushing the offending item back into the lane from whence it came, 2) if the item is floating, unrestricted, in your lane (as your later post suggests) you could grab it and take it to the end of your lane and place it on the deck (you might even time this such that you are towing it to the end farthest from the person who belongs to the equipment), 3) you could stop, get the attention of the person who belongs to the equipment and ask her to remove it from your lane, 4) you could tow the equipment over to the instructor and hand it to her and ask that she remind her participants to keep tighter control of their equipment. Any of these avenues would serve to remove the offending item from your lane, cause no hazard for other patrons, demonstrate (though not as dramatically) your displeasure and frustration and be accepted by nearly anyone as being within the bounds of civilized behavior.
One question does come to mind: Your posts would suggest that you feel that the largest contributing factor to your frustration is really that the lifeguard is falling short in doing his job. Actually, in most facilities it would be the instructor that would have front line responsibility for keeping her group and their equipment within their designated area. Be that as it may, clearly some staff member on the scene is falling short. The question is: why you would direct your dramatization at the aerobics people instead of the staff or management?
In your later post, you allude to aerobics people who "repeatedly threw things over in your path as you tried to swim" likening it to people who stand by the indoor track and toss things onto the track. You don't say so specifically, but you seem to be suggesting the aerobics people are intentionally putting stuff in your lane with the intent to disrupt your swimming. Though I strongly doubt that their equipment repeatedly gets into your lane through willful intent, if this is, in fact, what they are doing then it is clearly wrong and is just as uncivil as hurling of equipment. And, clearly, it would still not excuse hurling of equipment.
Another impression I get is that you think that your action of hurling equipment is completely justified. There is nothing in the scenario you have described that justifies your unsafe and uncivil actions. Even if everyone else is in the wrong, that isn't justification. I would be extremely surprised if any facility manager read your post and said to themselves "That guy sure knows how to handle a frustrating situation. He was completely within his rights to hurl equipment across the pool."
In regards to your hypothetical meeting between yourself, the lifeguard and the facility manager (assuming, for the moment, the facility manager is me) I offer the following: If my lifeguard was failing in his responsibilities, I would take corrective action. If the aerobics instructor was failing to keep her group's activities and equipment properly corraled in their assigned lanes, I would take corrective action. If there were aerobics people demonstrating unsafe or uncivilized behavior in my facility, I would take corrective action. And, no doubt, these problems would all be solved by the time you returned from your suspension.
I debated whether to post this or to respond to Shaky privately by email. As this situation (coexistence of in-water groups with differing needs and activities) is common, and often results in undesirable tensions between participants, I perceive others may find value in my response. In the long run, all of us having an interest in the use pools for real swimming, whether it is lap swimming or organized workouts, are all affected by how the rest of the world, particularly facility adminstrators see us. One person's actions have a ripple effect on others.
First, in a facility for which I had responsibility, it would not be the lifeguard (likely a college student) who would assess a suspension of privileges. He/she would simply be the dispassionate observer/messenger. It would be me, the facility director, that would make that call. As someone responsible for the safety and comfort of ALL the facility patrons I would have three major considerations in this situation, as follows:
Safety - My comment about being suspended from the facility was motivated by your response to Jean's comment about aerobics people who "lay their equipment (woggles, those leg weight things) on the lane line". You said that the way you handle it is to "stop, grab whatever it is and hurl it to the deck at the far side of the pool". I make the assumption that throwing of ANY object is specifically prohibited by the rules at your pool. It definitely is at every pool I've ever worked at. Throwing something like leg weights, which could do real harm to any person on the receiving end, however unintentional, would not just be a violation of the rules but, clearly, an egregious violation.
Civility - Among other things, my responsibility as a facility operator would be to quickly eliminate uncivilized/anti-social behavior on the part of any patron. It would seem that your original post was intended to show that you were being proactive to solve your problem. It would also seem that your actions were calculated to dramatize to the aerobics people your displeasure and frustration with the situation. By your description of the reaction the aerobics people have to your behavior, it would appear that when you engage in such a display you are successful. I also get the impression that you are aware that your actions were not exactly perceived, by the aerobics people, as civilized.
Pattern of behavior - You don't say so specifically, but your post implies that you have engaged in such a demonstration on more than one occasion. While I can conceive of circumstances where a first occurrence might only receive a warning, I can't imagine allowing repetitive occurrences.
Acceptable alternatives to hurling equipment include such actions as 1) simply pushing the offending item back into the lane from whence it came, 2) if the item is floating, unrestricted, in your lane (as your later post suggests) you could grab it and take it to the end of your lane and place it on the deck (you might even time this such that you are towing it to the end farthest from the person who belongs to the equipment), 3) you could stop, get the attention of the person who belongs to the equipment and ask her to remove it from your lane, 4) you could tow the equipment over to the instructor and hand it to her and ask that she remind her participants to keep tighter control of their equipment. Any of these avenues would serve to remove the offending item from your lane, cause no hazard for other patrons, demonstrate (though not as dramatically) your displeasure and frustration and be accepted by nearly anyone as being within the bounds of civilized behavior.
One question does come to mind: Your posts would suggest that you feel that the largest contributing factor to your frustration is really that the lifeguard is falling short in doing his job. Actually, in most facilities it would be the instructor that would have front line responsibility for keeping her group and their equipment within their designated area. Be that as it may, clearly some staff member on the scene is falling short. The question is: why you would direct your dramatization at the aerobics people instead of the staff or management?
In your later post, you allude to aerobics people who "repeatedly threw things over in your path as you tried to swim" likening it to people who stand by the indoor track and toss things onto the track. You don't say so specifically, but you seem to be suggesting the aerobics people are intentionally putting stuff in your lane with the intent to disrupt your swimming. Though I strongly doubt that their equipment repeatedly gets into your lane through willful intent, if this is, in fact, what they are doing then it is clearly wrong and is just as uncivil as hurling of equipment. And, clearly, it would still not excuse hurling of equipment.
Another impression I get is that you think that your action of hurling equipment is completely justified. There is nothing in the scenario you have described that justifies your unsafe and uncivil actions. Even if everyone else is in the wrong, that isn't justification. I would be extremely surprised if any facility manager read your post and said to themselves "That guy sure knows how to handle a frustrating situation. He was completely within his rights to hurl equipment across the pool."
In regards to your hypothetical meeting between yourself, the lifeguard and the facility manager (assuming, for the moment, the facility manager is me) I offer the following: If my lifeguard was failing in his responsibilities, I would take corrective action. If the aerobics instructor was failing to keep her group's activities and equipment properly corraled in their assigned lanes, I would take corrective action. If there were aerobics people demonstrating unsafe or uncivilized behavior in my facility, I would take corrective action. And, no doubt, these problems would all be solved by the time you returned from your suspension.
