snobs in the pool

The Barge - now that is good. Let me relate a story about a previous pool I used to swim in. Well, it's sort of pool related. We had this guy who would go in the steam room and/or sauna for a loooooong time, always in the same wifebeater tank top and gray sweat shorts. He would then come out of the steam/sauna room and immediately strip down and proceed to put these items of clothing directly in the swimsuit spinner,nthe water extracting device. It was grotesque, and he was a barge-esque man to boot. We started calling him "The Sweat Peddler." He could sweat like he was hooked up to a hose. Needless to say, if you saw The Peddler, you either raced to beat him to the spinner or just took home your suit rolled up very wet in your towel. Putting a Peddled suit in your swim bag was not a good idea.

Why do I think Shakey may have something to say about this....:rolleyes:

Originally posted by sparx35 ... ..you know they swim directly in your path even though you have swam linearly for 1500metres +...try keeping your path and you end up colliding...sometimes they appologise...sometimes they ignore..i have to change lanes.... I thought from another thread that these are ghosts only, sparx.

There are plenty enough at my pool. Especially the ones who insist on swimming (for lack of a better word) with those $^&^#! mask/snorkle combos and a pair of flippers. There's one person who gets a 'tude when you want to share a lane. We call this person "The Barge" for obvious resons of width, etc. We thought of using this peron's moving snorkle for a ring toss game. I am always happy the share a lane and I expect others to show that same courtesy.

Originally posted by Scansy Why do I think Shakey may have something to say about this....:rolleyes: Nope. I had enough and quit in disgust. I dragged the Cannondale out of my storage unit and am no longer swimming.

Swimming in an open lap swim can definitely be a trying experience. One thing I've noticed is there is a wide range of people who consider themselves capable of swimming in the fast lane. If you get in and swim too fast they get mad! Apparently they expect you to slow down or something :)

Originally posted by Phil Arcuni I wonder who the 'snobs' are - the kids having fun throwing a ball around and the blue haired women trying to get some exercise with arthritic joints, or the superfast lifelong swimmers who threaten to flip into children, toss balls over fences, swing sharp paddles, and lawsuits? You know most of us are just venting our frustrations, Phil. I agree that some of us probably shouldn't be swimming in a public lap swim. I certainly don't except in unusual circumstances, but hey we've got no more or less right to be there than anyone else whether it be kids, the "barge," sweaty guy or whoever.:)

I do say something to the guards when things get really bad but I don't want to say to much for fear of backlash. The guards are nice enough to let my daughter swim while I do laps. They let her do this even when they are having lessons and normally don't let kids swim in the pool. I do have to take matters into my own hands sometimes and I have a funny story to tell about that. One time a kid kept on coming into the lap lane so I said to him "you're not suppose to be in here". Instead of just getting out of the lane he left the pool.

I wonder who the 'snobs' are - the kids having fun throwing a ball around and the blue haired women trying to get some exercise with arthritic joints, or the superfast lifelong swimmers who threaten to flip into children, toss balls over fences, swing sharp paddles, and lawsuits? And Shakey, let me get this straight - it is less stressful for you to ride a bicycle in busy streets with in-attentive drivers of 2,000 lb vehicles traveling over 40 miles an hour, car doors opening unexpectedly, stopping continually at stop lights and stop signs (I assume all law-abiding bicyclists do that,) rain, heat, humidity, and sweat, than to swim with some children playing marco polo? Well, there is room in this world for all types . . . Anyway, at some level of quality swimming it is no longer reasonable for a swimmer to be in some community lap swims - one becomes more disruptive of other peoples activity than anything else. Show some consideration and swim when it is less crowded or join a team - either masters or a youth YMCA or USS.

For some its not so easy to swim when its less crowded or with a master swim team. Our team is too small and its hard for us to swim together so we all swim on our own. With a full time job and children I'm limited to the times when I can work out.