Lost of great peeves that rang my bell!
Whoever is peeved about other people in his/her lane # 5: That's me. That's MY lane. It's because it's near the pace clock. (Lane 6 is the wall lane, and I do NOT swim on the wall except as a last resort.)
If people cross my lane, I swim into them or over them. Size has its priveleges. If I collide with someone, chances are that I'm not the one who will get hurt. (I'm 6'6", 240 lbs or so, and I'm moving at a pretty good clip -- 1:20-1:25/100yds. 1:05-1:10 if I'm sprinting. Stay out of my way! I also displace a lot of water, so I can churn up a rather healthy wake. That's a problem for someone else to get peeved about.)
Wanna swim in lane 5? Expect to share with me. And expect to eat my wake! I especially enjoy passing a really slow swimmer who is on his/her back. Hope they're not taking a deep breath when my wake passes over them!
If someone stops me to ask if I mind that they share (see "don't talk to me" below) I just say "go ahead" and I keep swimming, but I think to myself that the real question they should be asking themselves is if they will mind sharing with ME!
Whoever complained about people who hug the lane line: that's also me. At my pool we split the lane unless more than 12 show up, and then we start circling. If no one is sharing my lane, I do not swim in the middle. I swim on the lane line that's closest to the clock. If I swim in the middle, it seems that when someone eventually enters my lane to share, they always want the side nearest the clock. That's MY side of MY lane! So I don't do the middle. I stake out MY side right from the get-go.
(BTW, I've been swimming in that lane for 15 years, first thing in the morning, six days a week, and most regulars know it's my preferred lane, and most don't want to share my wake, so it is generally the 12th person in the pool who has to share with me. Most times we don't get to 12, so I get my own lane. For some reason new people are attracted to lane 5 if they get out there before I do. Maybe because it's empty because everyone else stays out of there! Most move within a lap or two after I join them to share the lane.)
One of my peeves is the "floating cadaver". This guy swims on his back, elementary backstroke, so slowly that it takes him about 2 minutes per length. He used to try to get lane 5 before I got out there. And then he would ask me not to share with him. I had the lifeguard explain our pool's lane etiquette. If there are no empty lanes, then a swimmer is entitled to share in any lane in the pool. (We don't have slow/med/fast.)
If someone is in lane 5 and there is an empty lane, I will take my time on the deck until one more swimmer shows up to get into the last empty lane. Then pool etiquette allows me to share with whomever is in lane 5. (Which takes us back to a few paragraphs above...)
I also am peeved at the "manatees." These are usually elderly, rotund ladies who wallow, float, walk, but rarely expend a calorie of meaningful workout energy. They just take up good real estate. And they complain when my flip turn gets their hair wet.
I'm not sure if this is a peeve or a source of self worth: Some swimmers of lesser capability will time their push-off (after a lengthy rest) to coincide with mine, and then pretend that they can keep up with me. (Or push off a few seconds ahead of me and try to beat me to the next wall...) Oh, maybe with their most frantic effort they can last one length... I'm 300 yards into a 500yd set, they are fresh, and they think it's some sort of accomplishment to keep up with me for 25 yards. It's an honor to be considered some sort of standard to attain! (But it's a bother to swim next to their thrashing. It's distracting.)
Similarly, there is the type of swimmer that is 10 seconds slower. As I come up behind them to lap them, they suddenly try to pick up their pace to hold me off. If I pick it up, they start sprinting. They're gonna hurt themselves! Maybe they can hold me off for a length or two, but as soon as I break ahead of them, they fall off like an autumn leaf, and 3 minutes later we're back to the same game when it's time to lap them again. (People on the highways do this too...)
And then there is the "chugger". He also does elementary backstroke, only his stroke and kick extend into my side of the lane (or under the lane line into my lane if he is in lane 6.) He takes these huge, long strokes (chug, ... chug, ... chug.) He properly stays to his half of the lane, but he just goes so wide on his stroke. (His sidestroke is similar, but not quite as bad.) I've swum over him a few times without injury to either of us, but I'm just worried that one momemt of harmonic convergence will place his foot in the same space as my head some day. Usually he sticks to the other side of the pool. He prefers his own lane too.
Another peeve: DON'T TRY TO TALK TO ME!!! I can't hear you over the echo/din of the pool area. Nor over the radio that's always playing. I have ear plugs in my ears. I have a cap on. And I really don't have the time or the energy to waste on chat. Catch me in the locker room if you have to talk. (But not in the shower. I can't hear over the running water there.)
BTW: I have the utmost respect for the person who shares my lane and stays until the end of their workout. Even more so if they turn out to be faster and stronger than I am.
I really only have one pet peeve and it is this: when someone INSISTS on letting you go ahead of them on a set, knowing full well they are faster, and then they are right on your ass for the entire repeat! I hate, hate, hate that. There is one person in particular who immediately comes to mind.....
OR - they don't give you the general five seconds before pushing off (they wait just one or two) and then they ride your toes the rest of the way.
OK...here's another pet peeve....
Sometimes, if a workout is particularly crowded, a faster person might get stuck in a slower lane. It's up to the coach to move everyone around, but sometimes that doesn't happen and the faster person (in my opinion) should acquiesce to the rest of the lane's interval. This has happened to me and in my mind I think..."OK, it's a 'work on my technique' day" because I can't expect the other 4 people to keep my pace. OR - if I get stuck in a faster lane that's just too fast for me (it's happened several times) I either cut my yardage down in order to keep up or sit out every other repeat or whatever.
But I guess my main peeve is the "go ahead of me so I can ride your ass" folks.
Oh yeah - and I hate it when people stick around in the lane after a workout and chit chat for 15 minutes while I try to avoid running into them while doing a flip turn.
Grrrrr....:mad:
From SS78:
Both from amateurs, floaters, "Manatees" and aqua aerobes...
Hope you're not referring to any specific Manatee that I may know.
Jim
MAM (Manatee Aquatic Masters):p
Similarly, there is the type of swimmer that is 10 seconds slower. As I come up behind them to lap them, they suddenly try to pick up their pace to hold me off. If I pick it up, they start sprinting. They're gonna hurt themselves! Maybe they can hold me off for a length or two, but as soon as I break ahead of them, they fall off like an autumn leaf, and 3 minutes later we're back to the same game when it's time to lap them again. (People on the highways do this too...)
Yes, that is an interesting phenomenon about people....If you've already lapped them on several occassions then it seems that they would stop this kind of routine eventually....but many do not....very strange but none-the-less fairly common behavior
OR - they don't give you the general five seconds before pushing off (they wait just one or two) and then they ride your toes the rest of the way.
Ah yes....the "drafters".....This can also be compared to highway behavior (like Guvnah pointed out about his pet peeve that I quoted above)......I have drafted behind 18 wheelers on long trips before thinking that it would save me a little gas in the long run.....I don't do that anymore b/c I am older (and perhaps a little wiser and realize the potential danger in doing this).
Everybody wants to draft off of somebody to make them do all of the work.....Well at least if someone is drafting off of you than your getting a little extra workout by dragging them along while also dragging yourself along too!....But yes, I hate that as well!!....(See Justforfun's first poem on the poetry thread where he also refers to this annoyance).
newmastersswimmer
I actually don't mind someone drafting (I do it too once in a while)! But it's when I know they are faster - they are just being lazy!! Come on, guys - step up to the plate!
Here's another one I just thought of:
Coach gives the set and no one wants to go first! So everyone discusses who's going first, etc., while the other lanes are swimming the set! I've been guilty of this too... this is when a "lane boss" comes in handy...
There's one gal I swim with when I swim in the morning and she's kind of a "lane boss" - not annoying at all but if I wear paddles or fins I have really reassure her that I won't blow her out on a long set! If I'm the only one wearing pool toys, then I have to be considerate of my lane mates and their pace. Sometimes I'll even do an extra 50 or so so that we're all on the same page, or I'll alternate kick/swim.
Here's one:
Warming up at a USA Swimming meet in a packed pool of age groupers who seem to think the entire "warm up" is to be done at maximum effort from beginning to end. Imagine the whitewater produced by the flailing arms and legs of 20 or so kids per lane.
(Similar experiences can be had at bigger Masters meets like Nationals--but hopefully most have learned by then the finer points of warming up at less than race pace).
Originally posted by Scansy
Guvnah, are you sure you like lane 5?
Touché... I too have feelings for Lane 5, but if I ever swim at Guvnah's pool, I'll just go on days he's not swimming... I don't mind sharing lanes, but Guvnah has given me the impression that he's not willing to share with a moderatly slow to medium swimmer like myself. I like Lane 5 mainly for two reasons, No. 1: I've always liked the number 5 (don't know why, maybe it's psychological) ever since I can remember... No. 2: I absolutely abhore the shallow lane and I don't particularly care for lanes closest to the pool's wall since I'm legally blind. Guvnah, I think I'll just use your lane on days you're not swimming... I respect swimmers. ...another pet peeve of mine. LACK OF RESPECT! Both from amateurs, floaters, "Manatees" and aqua aerobes... AND the Friggin media! Not enough Swim TV in the States either... a shame too.
Ooohhh, here's another (quirk?) pet peeve of mine. ...When the pool staff HARDLY ever update their pool calender!!!
"...Kids! How would you like to swim like a pro? ....Come learn from the best: The YMCA is now hosting the Olympic Swim Academy! Space is limited, so CALL TODAY!
Session 1 April 19 - May 26 (extended 6 week class)
Session 2 June 7 - July 1
Session 3 July 5 - July 29
Session 4 Aug. 2 - Aug. 26"
...Three months AFTER the final session is over and that DAMN flyer is STILL posted on that plastic bulletin!!!
"Here, let me do you and the pool staff a favor!" *Angrily yanks cette laminated flyer with the advertisement above off of the bulletin*
Sorry, but not updating the pool bulletin and/or calender of events is just annoying... especially if the event ended THREE MONTHS AGO!
Originally posted by aquageek
Guvnah:
Have you considered anger management courses?
Swimming is my anger management. It helps me blow off steam.
Just stay out of my way! :)
How about the guy at my pool who has terrible form - he strokes only from about the top of his head to his chest, in very wide strokes. It is impossible to swim in the same lane as him. But his endurance is very good so he uses the lane for a looooong time every morning. His stroke is so bad, that I actually counted him doing 32 strokes per 25 yard length. He works real hard, and probably has pretty good cardio endurance. But he is impossible to share a lane with.
How about goggles that fog up.
How about lane lines that aren't tight enough and keep moving back and forth making lanes wider and narrower over and over again.
How about days when my stroke doesn't feel right and I am really struggling for some unknow reason. (Some may argue that my stroke being "off" is the norm!:D )
How about days when life keeps me from getting to the pool...... this is my biggest pet peave of all!
