Rude Behavior?

Phil ,I can relate to that since I am a slow swimmer.:) :cool: :)

Hmm -- well, I'm generally perfectly happy to wait until the last swimmer has finished (but sometimes that's me :( ). I had always thought that was at least an unwritten rule and I've been in many meets where the officials have expressly asked swimmers to stay in the water until all swimmers have finished, if only to avoid confusing the timing system. (But I rarely swim events longer than 100 meters and I can understand why someone finishing several laps ahead in a distance event -- say, a 1650 -- might not want to wait in cold water.) But I agree with you about poor pool etiquette, and not just in races. My particular pet peeve is the swimmer who gets in a lane at warmup or workout, paying no attention to whoever is already in there. Invariably, this person is either too fast or too slow and completely disrupts the lane. :mad:

My pet peeve is: When a heat is over, the fast swimmers don't wait until all swimmers have finished their swim before exiting the water. I would think that when the slower finisher discovers that he/she is the last one in the pool, he/she would be rather disheartened. that would completely stress me out!! i've never been in that situation but i know that i start to get a bit cuffufled if i'm aware that i'm the last person coming down the lane during a particular set... :(

Originally posted by Phil M. My pet peeve is: When a heat is over, the fast swimmers don't wait until all swimmers have finished their swim before exiting the water. Oops, I've probably been guilty of this, except for (most of) the times when I'm the slower finisher. I had never thought about it, hanging out for the whole heat to finish. I think part of it is being on a lot of relays, where you need to get out of the water ASAP.

I will be swimming the 1500 for the first time ever this summer. I hope the people who lap me DO get out of the pool, because I don't want to see them sitting on the wall knowing that I have an entire 100m to go! Just a personal preference, though. When I was an age-grouper we were told to wait till everyone finishes, sans relays of course.

In high school, our coach made it a meet rule for us to stay in our lane until the last person was finished. She asked us how we would feel after finishing a race, if we looked around and everyone had gotten out already! I think it's common courtesy to wait for everyone to complete before exiting the pool. -GG

At most of the big meets from regionals on up, part of the instructions often printed in the meet announcement, will have special rules specifying how and when the exit from the pool may or must be done, usually with the reasons for so doing. Thus, what might be construed as rude by the uninitiated is exactly in compliance.

In high school, our coach made it a meet rule for us to stay in our lane until the last person was finished. She asked us how we would feel after finishing a race, if we looked around and everyone had gotten out already! I think it's common courtesy to wait for everyone to complete before exiting the pool. Bump on that.

I guess I am uninitiated as I have never seen it posted that you should leave the water before the heat is complete. What generally happens is that a "fast" swimmer puts in a NT so they will be swimming in the first heat of their event. They can get a bit more rest before their next event with this approach. (which I have no problem with) Naturally, they will be swimming against the slower swimmers and they almost always leave the pool before the heat has been completed. As a slower swimmer it is bad enough to be lapped much less abandoned. Is this good sportsmanship? I don't believe so.

Originally posted by Phil M. I guess I am uninitiated as I have never seen it posted that you should leave the water before the heat is complete. I've been to several meets where the officials have asked swimmers to leave the pool as soon as they've finished, to keep the meet moving quickly (usually when I'm too exhausted to move :) ). On the other hand at the most recent meet I swam in, we were specifically told to stay in the water, until the NEXT heat started ("dive over"), for the same reason. This may not be "posted" anywhere -- the officials may just tell swimmers at the time -- and it varies from meet to meet. Of course, these are exceptions from what I've always thought of as an unwritten rule to wait until everyone has finished. But when the officials ask swimmers to do something that's not the usual etiquette, in the interests of keeping the meet moving expeditiously, it shouldn't taken bad manners.