Passing in practice

Don't expect the leading swimmer to stop at the next wall. The onus is really on the passer to swim around the lead swimmer. Yes, sometimes the leader will stop, but it isn't really a given.

Well, when I was in high school one of my teammates would just grab my ankles, give a strong yank down/back, and swim right over me without warning if I was going too slow... Discuss with your teammates / coach. Presumably everyone is at practice to get a good workout. Etiquette means that you don't interfere with somebody else's workout if it's avoidable. Rude: * Pushing off the wall when a faster swimmer is coming in for a turn * Putting on fins and still starting last * Not following the set, ie, different stroke or distance * Refusing to start set in proper order, not allowing correct interval (5 sec or 10 sec) between swimmers * Stopping during a repeat and not clearing out of the way * Speeding up when somebody tries to pass * Refusing to let somebody pass Not rude: * Lapping somebody * Just misjudging who will be faster or slower If you are the passer, make sure you haven't done anything rude to get yourself in the position where you're at somebody's ankles. Then go ahead and pass, especially if they did something stupid to wind up in front of you. We pass at my pool, probably don't do the ankle tap though. The swimmer in front can usually tell somebody's encroaching.

I don't care for the ankle grab or foot tap myself. If you're fast enough, just pass. Another alternative is to turn before the wall to place yourself in front of the slower swimmer if you have laps remaining. I'll do this to get myself up the ladder, ahead of the slower swimmer and to get myself into the lead or behind a swimmer more well suited to match my speed. At the wall, just ask "mind if I go ahead of you on this next one?" That works for me, on both the receiving and giving end. You can also determine whether you need to move to a faster lane. As you get to know your teammates better, you'll all get a better sense of where you are in the pecking order. And it will likely differ depending on the sets. In my lane, the people that lead the shorter swims (50s and 100s) are not necessarily the same ones who will lead a 500 pull set. that should be about 2 cents worth.

Good topic! I could go on and on about lane manners.... I know I've said this before, but another rude thing to do is sandbag (unless you're sick or injured - then it's not sandbagging!) during practice...meaning you are clearly faster, yet you choose to go behind someone else, then ride their toes the entire set!! :mad: I've asked people if it's OK for me to go ahead on the next set and no one's ever said no; people have asked me as well and it's never a problem. I've also turned at the flags on longers swims if it makes sense to pass a slower swimmer. Another pet peeve is when people don't wait the full 5 or 10 seconds before pushing off, then they ride your toes!!

My university team just had a small lecture on this by my coach the other day. Our policy is that the responsibility to pass is on the passer. If you want to pass someone it's not their responsibility to stop or pause at the wall - in fact that can be bad because it can throw off their set if they're going on an interval. My coach says that if you want to pass someone you better speed it up enough to be able to pass them. If you can't go fast enough to pass them then you should'nt be passing them in the first place. The foot tap/brush is nice because it lets people know that you *are* going to pass them. If I feel a foot brush on my foot I just make sure not to speed myself up. I may slow down a little, but not significantly. If I feel the tap when I'm going into a wall I'll pause momentarily or do an open turn and let the other swimmer pass. But I generally don't just stop unless someone indicates it....

Well, when I was in high school one of my teammates would just grab my ankles, give a strong yank down/back, and swim right over me without warning if I was going too slow... I actually laughed out loud at that.... That would probably be enough to get you banned from our Masters practices. Anyway, thanks for the responses. It's a bit complicated, all this lane etiquette stuff...but I'm getting the picture that the burden rests on the passer, not the passee. I guess the real reason I posted this is that I had a pretty unpleasant "incident" last night...I was swimming behind someone who I suppose is or was a regular, although she hadn't been to practice for awhile. Anyway, my hand accidentally brushed her feet during a backstroke length (I had waited more than a few seconds before pushing off the wall) and she actually stopped and yelled at me. Yes, yelled. She did apologize later in the locker room, and I understood that she was upset because she was swimming a lot slower than usual since she hadn't been in the water in awhile. But still...I was thinking, I should've just passed her in the beginning of the set, but at the same time I'm afraid to pass her now for fear of her really freaking out. Okay, rant over. Thanks again for the responses. :cool:

www.usms.org/.../articledisplay.php Dated October the 1st and gracing the front page of www.usms.org it's an article that addresses your question.

Originally posted by feelinblue .I was thinking, I should've just passed her in the beginning of the set, but at the same time I'm afraid to pass her now for fear of her really freaking out. if you are catching people or looking to pass (unless you are lapping them), you should just go in front of them at the start of the set. if they give you greif simply state "I plan on doing these on X time. if you are going to go faster, go ahead, otherwise, i'm going in front" it sounds like your "friend" has some anger management issues. what she should have done is just got out of your way like any considerate swimmer would have done.

Originally posted by PeirsolFan www.usms.org/.../articledisplay.php Dated October the 1st and gracing the front page of www.usms.org it's an article that addresses your question. The article is good, but it's targeted at etiquette during lap swims, which is slightly different than during an organized workout. The main difference being that in lap swims everyone may be doing something a little different. In this situation the slower swimmers should try to stay out of the way of the faster swimmers. I think during an organized workout the faster swimmer should pass a slower swimmer and not expect the slower swimmer to stop for them.

The elderly have expressed to me that it scares them for a variety of reasons... 1. Don't swim well enough 2. Don't feel very confident in the water 3. Don't appreciate getting splashed 4. Don't like getting their hair wet Only on rare occasions have I felt like someone was creating a wake or splashing to where it made me uncomfortable. Some guys like to cause a scene, some people are just sprinting and wakes/spashing happens, and other people just have poor technique. There's one guy who can spash from 2 or 3 lanes over during free. No elbow bends and a flat palm entry into the water. I don't know what bothers me more, watching it or hearing it! (Jaws theme sound) ;)