Passing in practice

Yeah...she really shouldn't have done that. I think if anyone had an outburst like that during our team practices my coach would get just a little bit angry. It may not feel good to be passed...I know that when I was first swimming with the girls on my team my ego took a huge hit by being passed a lot. I was only lapped by one or two people...but the passing was hard. After comming back from a summer of swimming in health clubs where I was easily one of the faster swimmers...getting passed during my university practices was hard. I imagine that at one point in time she was a pretty fast swimmer and that for whatever reason has lost some of her fitness. Getting passed by someone she's not used to swimming with was probably a blow to her ego that trigged the outburst. Still doesn't justify it though...

Yesterday, I was told that I scare some of the older peole in the lap lane. I'm crushed! Supposedly, they are a fraid of me becasue I create a quake in the water & it makes it hard for them to breath.

Originally posted by Guvnah Probably every pool has one of these. We call ours "Sir Splash-a-lot". I refer to them as "UFO"s. Unidentified Floating Object

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 PeirsolFan 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 Generally, people who feel this way have the sense to move elsewhere. Those who don't, well, they choose their fate. Only on rare occasions have I felt like someone was creating a wake or splashing to where it made me uncomfortable. My philosophy: Create a bigger wake! (Swim harder.) 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) ;) Probably every pool has one of these. We call ours "Sir Splash-a-lot".

An interesting story from today's morning practice on my Uni team..... So I swim in a lane with this one girl on my team. She's new to competitive swimming and really hasn't mastered interval swimming...or exactly what a set is. I feel sometimes sad for her because we'll do a set of say... 3 x 25 on some interval...and she'll hit the wall after the first 25 and not check the clock and just keep going...as thought it were a 75. I try to explain it to her...but it doesn't seem to work..... Anyway. Sometimes our lane has 3 or 4 people in it. When it does, we naturally circle swim. Other times (depending on the amount of people at practice, the workout and intervals...) we're the only two in the lane. This morning was one of those such times. During these times we either circle swim or split the lane...whatever we feel like. But usually we pick one and just stick to it. So this morning we had kind of decided on splitting the lane. Anyway, during one set I was at one of the walls and she was comming in on a pull set getting ready to turn around. She was in my side of the lane. I paused her at the wall and asked her if we were circling or splitting...she didn't seem to be sure...so I said...okay how about we split the lane. You take your normal side I'll take mine. So she says okay I'll stay over here and goes to that side. Fine. She goes off and since I'm on an interval I don't think much about it. My time to leave comes up and I start swimming ...I'm not looking forward... and then all of a sudden in the middle of the pool *CRASH!* She ran smack dab into me. I acted like it didn't bother me, but really I was a little pissed. I mean come on. She nearly hit me once and we had a discussion to sort out the lane settings...she agreed...and THEN she did hit me. I mean come on.............

Early on, someone suggested that you discuss the approved passing protocol with the coach or your lane mates. A very wise decision. I am all in favor of the foot tap, as it allows the passee to prepare to be passed, either to slow a bit, pause at the wall, do an open turn, whatever. This is in a perfect world where we all agree that at some time or other, 99% of all swimmers will be passed. In reality, many Masters swimmers, particularly the fitness, sometimes the triathletes, do not know they are being passed. Or worse, actively do not want to be passed. In either case, you are stuck behind them until the end of the interval, unless you decide to cut a length short. Which now brands you as a cheater, and ruins your pace for the swim. you can blame it on the recalcitrant passee, but it is really up to you to pass safely if you need and are able to do so. As for the ankle grab, it is a very useful training tool if everyone is aware that it is an approved tactic in the workout, but is usually only a college or High school ploy.

I'm wondering why Mr. GoodSmith hasn't put his two cents into this thread yet?....It seems like a perfect invitation for his unique personality....LOL!!....So where are you Mr. GoodSmith?....How do you suggest we pass slower swimmers at practice (like say triatheletes that push off the wall right in front of us...etc...)??......I'm anxious to hear your take on this....but I bet I can more or less guess what your response will be. Newmastersswimmer

Originally posted by nkfrench 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'm having open water racing flashbacks. Isn't there enough room in the ocean???

HMLEE, I bet your novice swimmer there is a TI disciple or I mean student (lol). I've noticed they tend to swim more towards the center of the lane. Something to do with curing circle swimming tendancy in a race. Anyway, I like this thread. After reading the article on pool etiquette, I started thinking about "training etiquette". There are a few peeves of mine, one of which was touched upon earlier. I know, 1 and 2 are mental, but isn't that what pet peeves are? 1)The sandbagger, who picks and chooses his/her sets to work on, only to blow you away on the (usually easier) set they choose to move on. 2)The ego from the other lane (much like the guy in your lane who speeds up while you're trying to pass). This is the guy (in the lane next to you) who you easily catch (5 - 10 yards per 25), but then for some unexplainable reason, you find it impossible to move an inch on him once you've caught up. (I wonder if these are the same drivers who speed up when you try to pass them on the road.) 3)Surface pushers. These are the guys who push off the wall at or just a few inches below the surface, creating a wake acceptable for a boogie board ride. I guess I am so intuned to practicing my own practice and not thinking about the other guy (college coach always said since you can't control the other guy, why worry about him, swim your own race), that it drives me nuts when someone is focusing in on me. BTW, drafters, by drafting (obviously), decrease your drag and actually 'push' you faster. I welcome the guy behind me to push off right behind me. So long as he doesn't take advantage of it, and pass me on the final lap (STRO!)lol.