Swim Rant

Seriously, how hard is it to understand the concept of sharing a lane. I swim at the university pool and we have a very large international student population, some have pretty poor english language skills, and for some reason they love to hop into my lane. Maybe I look less intimidating since I'm middle aged? I try to explain how it works, they smile and nod and then proceed to wait until I'm almost to the wall... then they take off down the middle swimming at a snails pace. Makes for a very stop-start workout. *sigh* I bet you look friendly and kind, that's why they jump in with you! I have the same problem. The pool can be full of noodler's and people barely moving all by themselves in a lane; when another molasses swimmer comes in they jump in with me 100% of the time. If I'm swimming during a busy time and I see a swimmer enter who really swims and follows the rules I wave at them and tell them I'd be happy to share a lane with them. A little pro-active work up front makes for a better swim. :)

Seriously, how hard is it to understand the concept of sharing a lane. I swim at the university pool and we have a very large international student population, some have pretty poor english language skills, and for some reason they love to hop into my lane. Maybe I look less intimidating since I'm middle aged? I try to explain how it works, they smile and nod and then proceed to wait until I'm almost to the wall... then they take off down the middle swimming at a snails pace. Makes for a very stop-start workout. *sigh* I bet you look friendly and kind, that's why they jump in with you! I have the same problem. The pool can be full of noodler's and people barely moving all by themselves in a lane; when another molasses swimmer comes in they jump in with me 100% of the time. If I'm swimming during a busy time and I see a swimmer enter who really swims and follows the rules I wave at them and tell them I'd be happy to share a lane with them. A little pro-active work up front makes for a better swim. :)