Hi everyone...okay, for my first post I have an etiquette question...I just joined a Master's team a month ago, so I'm pretty new to all of this.
My question is about passing people during practice. I know that theoretically, the standard procedure is to tap the person's feet to let them know you want to pass, and then they're supposed to stop and "pull over" at the next wall to let you get ahead. But do any of you actually do this a lot during practice? Do the people you pass let you do so without a problem, or do they get mad?
Maybe this doesn't sound like a big deal at all and it seems silly that I'm concerned, but I haven't seen anyone even attempt to pass someone else during our practices, and so I'm afraid it would be rude. Plus, some people I swim with seem like they'd get offended, since they're pretty competitive. But last night, I was getting kind of frustrated because I was swimming behind someone who was slower than me, and I felt like I could go so much faster...is the appropriate thing to do to just suck it up and enjoy the "break", or attempt to pass?
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Originally posted by knelson
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.
You raise an important distinction between open lap swim and an organized workout.
By and large, in an organized workout (keyword: organized) there is general understanding about what's happening, and who is whom, and each person understands his/her place. (If someone doesn't know what he's doing or where he belongs or where he "ranks" on the pecking order of capability, he will be quickly straightened out, whether by his lane mates, or the coach.) Usually within the first 200 yards or so, it all gets worked out and harmony reigns! Peer pressure is a wonderful organizer.
Not so in open lap swim. Often the others in your lane have no peer relationship to you. They resent your presence if they can't have their own lane. They aren't friend, teammate or family. They don't know you, probably won't see you again, and chances are extremely high that their capabilities have no match to yours whatsoever. There is no working concept of slow/medium/fast -- even in pools where lanes are so labeled. They will be doing a workout that has no match to what you are doing. Chaos and conflict are the ecosystem. If the lane is split only by two swimmers, this is all generally moot, but once the third swimmer arrives and you have to circle, expect disharmony.
Not enough people have read the article (or even the etiquette rules posted on the wall at the pool.) And if they have, most assume it doesn't apply to them.
Originally posted by knelson
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.
You raise an important distinction between open lap swim and an organized workout.
By and large, in an organized workout (keyword: organized) there is general understanding about what's happening, and who is whom, and each person understands his/her place. (If someone doesn't know what he's doing or where he belongs or where he "ranks" on the pecking order of capability, he will be quickly straightened out, whether by his lane mates, or the coach.) Usually within the first 200 yards or so, it all gets worked out and harmony reigns! Peer pressure is a wonderful organizer.
Not so in open lap swim. Often the others in your lane have no peer relationship to you. They resent your presence if they can't have their own lane. They aren't friend, teammate or family. They don't know you, probably won't see you again, and chances are extremely high that their capabilities have no match to yours whatsoever. There is no working concept of slow/medium/fast -- even in pools where lanes are so labeled. They will be doing a workout that has no match to what you are doing. Chaos and conflict are the ecosystem. If the lane is split only by two swimmers, this is all generally moot, but once the third swimmer arrives and you have to circle, expect disharmony.
Not enough people have read the article (or even the etiquette rules posted on the wall at the pool.) And if they have, most assume it doesn't apply to them.
