Swim Rant

The outdoor long course pool I used to swim in as a kid was L shaped with the dive tank as the other leg of the L. There was a lane line strung across the dive tank, but it was attached about a foot in from the corner. In other words the wall lane on that side of the pool had a sharp corner where the two legs of the L met. I was always deathly afraid of crashing into that corner doing backstroke in that lane! I don't think I ever did, though. I've plowed into the corner of the penninsula at another pool and even going slow YES it hurts. I got a bruise about 4" x 8" on the tip of my shoulder. Between that, ladders and a slide it was a rough summer since the outside lanes didn't have a lanerope. I wonder if somebody makes swim crash helmet or curb feelers ? Apparently my sonar isn't good enough.

I've plowed into the corner of the penninsula at another pool and even going slow YES it hurts. I got a bruise about 4" x 8" on the tip of my shoulder. Between that, ladders and a slide it was a rough summer since the outside lanes didn't have a lanerope. I wonder if somebody makes swim crash helmet or curb feelers ? Apparently my sonar isn't good enough. Why don't you (all in similar situations) ask the pool management (or whoever/whatever plays that role) to get a small gallows-like stand with a tennis ball or something that will act like an approach warning. (Kind of like the landing-ball on aircraft carriers? As you backstrokers (if you really don't want to switch) approach the corner, the ball could be too far to the right or to the left and you would/could have enough distance left to the "ouch" zone to make a quick adjustment?

Rant all you want guys I am going on a trip to Moline Illinois for a week. On Friday I am going to have a party with Chuckie, 50th anniversary. Chuckie punches me when anyone asks how long have you been married and I say Too Long. Have fun, George, and be sure to give us the rundown when you come back, although I bet it'll be too good a time to post in the rant section. You'll need to post your party report as an "anti-rant"! :)

I read all the rants with great laughter before leaving for swim practice. At swim practice I was involved in a situation I would like to rant about. I usually swim during the day, but decided to swim at night with an organized masters team. A lady in my lane took one look at me and decided that she was faster than me. So, we are doing a 600 free and I am right on her toes when she decides to switch to backstroke. I pass her and then in the next set of 3x200 she tells me that she is faster than me and demands to go in front of me. When I tell her that I think I would prefer to be in front of her, she pushes off the wall and goes. URGH! The next set was 6x100 and I pass her during the first one. I then decide to give the person in front of me a little more space and has my feet leave the wall she rams into me. Apparently, she decided that since I was giving someone a ten second space, there was no reason for her to give me any space. At the end of practice, she told me that just because I am tall does not mean that I should have swum in front of her. I feel better for ranting. I think I may just stay with noon masters. Yikes! I guess I've been lucky--I've dealt with all different kinds of people, but in masters' practices, everyone's usually pretty polite. But I've seen people like this woman in other settings: she will not re-examine her viewpoint regardless of evidence to the contrary because she's clung to it probably for a very long time, like a "security blanket," and she'll treat anyone who proves her wrong as somehow the one at fault, usually by citing something totally irrelevant (like height, in your case) to show how wrong you are and how right she is. I've found that the only way to deal is to recognize that such a person must be terribly, terribly afraid of any truth about him/herself that doesn't match his/her expectations. Must be painful to live like that--like wearing ill-fitting shoes all the time because one is convinced that they are the only right ones to wear.

Why don't you (all in similar situations) ask the pool management (or whoever/whatever plays that role) ... One place is a city rec pool. ALL of the competitive equip (laneropes, backstroke flags, paceclocks) our team bought and we were very happy that they would allow us to keep them there between practices where nobody would vandalize them. I think our next purchase would be to replace the "hand-eater" used laneropes and buy/repair more lanerope reels so the laneropes aren't piled up between practices and getting broken dragging them along the deck to set up/tear down. We have 2 pools needing more equip. That stuff is really expensive. As far as crash helmets, curb feelers, ... maybe I should just learn to swim straight. :cool:

How about the guy who is not quite fast enough to swim in your lane, but insists on going in front because you are female. This is not a feminist rant, the other guys in the lane were aware of it too. Finally one day they had me lead, they went in the middle, and forced this guy to go at the back. We went slower and never let him come up at all. It wasn't kind of us, but we were tired of him for doing this AND for having bad lane ettiquite AAAAAAND breathing hard, directly in our faces, when he could've easily turned to the side like the rest of us. He now only comes once or twice a month. :groovy: Or, how about the person who is incredible foul in the mornings. Literally, when I said "good morning", she would grunt (and sometimes even added, "well, it's not"). Anyway, at the time, there were several of us who swam around the same speed and each morning we jumped into a couple of lanes, never really caring who was in what lane - we all swam well together. Exception...this gal was our same speed and we didin't swim well with her, as she kvetched and whined about the sets, her ankle, and anything else she saw fit. It got to the point that we actually used to get there a bit early and jump into lanes so that she was forced to move up because our lanes were "too full". She moved away. :cheerleader: I'm not a passive-aggressive person by nature (and lordy have I caught grief for it), but in cases such as these, well, it seems to work out quite nicely. I think this covers Ande's quest for rants and solutions.

Must be painful to live like that--like wearing ill-fitting shoes all the time because one is convinced that they are the only right ones to wear. Or that you actually look manly in a Speedo thong...not that I wold wear one...rumour has it Jim Bork does though...

If somebody too slow consistently insists on going up front, I think The Rules allow you to swim right over them if they obstruct you from passing. Just grab the ankles and go over the top.

Not a rant, but I would just like to say that I love SLC Steiner Masters. My earlier post about the lady thinking she was faster than "tall" me is one bad example of swimming. For the vast majority of time, I think the people I swim with are great and very supportive. This situation developed because I don't swim with that group of people and she had no idea who I was.

I want to rant about the aqua aerobics people.. 1. although they have two lanes (made into one big one) they all stand along the lane line between them and I, and look mad when they get splashed when I swim by.. 2. Request and are granted that the pool temp be put to 86 degrees because they are cold. 3. Sing "Its a small world after all" during their warm up... Ever tried to swim hard with "its a small world after all" going thru your head? (Just looked at me with a blank face when I asked the instuructor if she knew any Led Zepplin.) I actually now go at 6am instead of 7, just to miss them.