Complaints about Splashing

There is this one grumpy old man at our pool who swims down the middle of the lane to discourage folks from sharing with him. He sees you on the wall but will ignore you, even when putting the courtesty kick board in the water to acknowledge your presense. I just view this as an invitation and jump right in causing tsunami like waves. That first lap we come within inches of each other but he quickly moves over.

Originally posted by nkfrench I heard that some don't like to wear swim caps because they mush down their hair-dos. Of course. I'm sure many of them just had their appointment with their "beauty operator" that morning!

AK, knowing my luck, I'd probably decapitate the lady if I tried your fly with paddles suggestion. Then I'd be in trouble for real! :)

I would make every attempt to avoid sharing a lane with her but if no other options were available I would just ignore her remarks. Unless you are purposefully trying to annoy her you have nothing to worry about. Sounds like a grumpy old lady with very little else to worry about.

When I was a pre-teen (also pre- swim team) those people doing laps of breaststroke trying to keep their hair dry were too much temptation, and my friends and I would decide that we needed cannonball practice. I heard that some don't like to wear swim caps because they mush down their hair-dos. Maybe a showercap would work. When I have to share with a lane-hog, I fantasize about sharpening the edges on my paddes. The war-ships in Ben Hur ... "ramming speed" ... This is all why I hope to never have to deal with open lap swim, yet another reason to join a USMS team. If I moved and none was available, I think I would just have to organize one myself.

What drives me crazy is when they cut through the lanes to go and complain to the lifeguard.

I guess the first thing is to ask yourself if you are truly splashing excessively. Even as a swimmer, there are some folks who jump in and have no idea what they are doing and splash like the Titanic going under. That can be annoying for folks around them. Assuming, hopefully, you are just swimming nicely and not splashing too much, I really don't think you need to make any apologies or provide an explanation. As you said, pools are wet. However, at our pool there is a set of frightening senior citizen ladies who have run off a bunch of decent swimmers by constantly refusing to share a lane, complaining about splashing, etc. I have heard them shriek at poor souls who jump into their hot pool (we have two pools).

gosh you being are so insensitive to her needs i think you should apologize immediately . . . actually I think she's being ridiculous Next time you have the pleasure of sharing a lane with her maybe you should do a few perfectly timed all out 25's from a dive to show her what what real splashes and waves are all about maybe she won't get in your lane a Originally posted by Sydney I'm sure most of us have had conflicts at the pool during rec swim when non-swimmers who are unfamiliar with swimming etiquette jump in and mess things up. In fact, the latest Swimmer magazine dealt with that very issue. What I'm wondering is what is the best way to handle the situation when a head-up breaststroke only lady (or gentleman) complains to me or the lifeguard that I'm splashing too much while swimming laps, or that I'm making big waves that disrupt her swimming. Any advice on this? Clearly she has as much a right to be there as I do, but it's a pool, geeze! Pools are wet!

Originally posted by thewookiee Would that be the downtown Y, you are referring too? No, but it probably pertains to most Y pools in America.

Explain... I would swim under water while holding my breath but I need to practice more to do that ...so I am going to swim fly with paddles to build up my lung capacity to reach this feat... thanks for your understanding. I think they would welcome you normal swimming back.