Clarifying Lane Etiquette

I'll take the contrary view here. All pools should require circle swimming all the time. What you do by insisting to swim side by side, or down the center, is make the next person entering the lane stop you and ask for permission and work out a plan you can accept. Circle swimming is the most efficient use of a finite space. Assuming this is public pool space so whether you develop a bad habit of circle swimming in races shouldn't be the concern of the owner of the pool. Their concern should be to fit as many people in the space as they can. But what if no one is waiting for a lane and it's uncrowded? I believe that is the situation mentioned by some side-by-side swimming posters, including myself and scyfreestyler. Do I have to circle swim all by myself in an unoccupied lane? No one wants to be a lane hog, but if there's only 1 or 2 people per lane and no one is waiting, exactly what is the problem? If more people come, you can always adjust, but I haven't had that happen yet. (I try to swim at off times, if possible.) I'm also not overly troubled by stopping someone at the wall briefly (especialy if they're doing an open turn) to ask if they mind me taking a side of the lane. Or, I'll hop right in like Geek. Likewise, if I have a lane to myself and see someone waiting, I stop what I'm doing and ask if they would like a side. What's it going to take? A few seconds. Doesn't seem like a big deal. I've never had to sit down and negotiate a lane truce at great length. I guess some people get their knickers in a twist over every little thing. Pretty soon we'll need mother hens at pools. I'm sure if there's a problem the lifeguard can step in. But if everyone's doing fine without intervention and no one's waiting, why do we "always" have to do it your way?

I think Howard has a point. When you split the lane you're sending a message to anyone else coming along that your lane is taken and they aren't welcome there.

This is valid. A simple tap (as a heads up) and pass should be the modus operandi if only 2 are swimming. No need to grab, and hound someone to stop. Just tap and pass. This would mean having to insist that all lanes are swimming at the relavant speed for the lane, which is neccessary to implement the mandatory circle swim rule. It's just my opinion but otherwise well have "tap and pass" going on in every lane. and therein lies the problem. how many times have you gone to swim during rec swim hours, and no one is obeying the slow, medium, and fast signs posted??? or better yet, how many pools don't have the signs at all? i think this is why if there's only 2 people in a lane, splitting it is a much better idea. just my :2cents:

Rich and Leslie, yes, you are correct :banana: :dedhorse: I always jump into the "fast" lanes as marked at rec swims. To geek's point, though, if I am in a lane by myself and there is ample lane space (ie lots of lanes w/ one person and the person chooses my lane), I am definetely discriminatory about who I will let join in. I think that is a fair thing to do, esp. if the facility has a history if patrons ignorant of the lane speed cones. When Rich shows up with his baggy trunks and water-running belt and tries to get into my lane, he's going to be glad I know who he is :wave: . Once he is done using his belt, we can work on strategery for our 200 *** relay with Heather and Geek!

And to continue, when it all comes down to it, this is all about common courtesy. I don't think any of us are at all trying to discourage anyone from actually getting in the pool, as we all love the sport. But I understand Barb's experience, and that it probably happens way too much and has discouraged way too many people from getting into a pool again. Hopefully we can all be good ambassadors and work with facilities to help set good, enforced policies to get everyone into the water that wants to.

The slow, medium, fast lanes could be a topic unto itself. I've had experiences where I start swimming in the fast lane of a pool that I'm not a frequent swimmer and sort of get the skunk eye from the other swimmers. They usually don't say much, but you just get the "how dare you come to my pool and swim faster than me?" vibe. I'm sure others have had this experience!

I think that is a fair thing to do, esp. if the facility has a history if patrons ignorant of the lane speed cones. It is certainly fair - to you only. I guess if they are ignorant on lane speed choice, you can be ignorant on lane sharing etiquette. It all must even out somewhere down the line and who wouldn't want to swim in a club full of ignorant swimmers? I don't even ask when I join a lane. I just say "are we cirlcing or side-to-side." I figure if they are already there, they can choose. I NEVER ask permission to join a lane

It is certainly fair - to you only. I guess if they are ignorant on lane speed choice, you can be ignorant on lane sharing etiquette. It all must even out somewhere down the line and who wouldn't want to swim in a club full of ignorant swimmers? I don't even ask when I join a lane. I just say "are we cirlcing or side-to-side." I figure if they are already there, they can choose. I NEVER ask permission to join a lane You know, this brings up a good point and made me think of something that I think may make me change my tune next time I rec swim... Perhaps the rec swimmers have had issues with lanehogs previously, and see my lane as a great place to be. I obviously know what I am doing and swim a lot, and therefore probably have good lane ettiquite, right? Maybe all they need is a friendly lanemate, regardless of speed, who is courteous about sharing!

Our pool does not get full very often and there is a one swimmer - one lane mindset here. I have often seen people come out of the dressing rooms, look around and see all lanes occupied with one person and turn around and leave. Or they will sit on a bench and wait for someone to get out. I will always make it a point to invite the waiting swimmer to join me and then ask their preference for circle or side by side. I will never wait. I look to see who might be swimming the fastest with the least splash/wave and get in that lane and ask their preference. If I plan on swimming fly I'll warn them and then watch out for them. If I'm doing back, in addition to trying to keep track of where they are, I ask them to watch out for me as I will move away from the lane line at the ends to make my turns.

While reading through this thread, the whole thing I was thinking is that we know one side of the story....what about the guy's version?? Maybe he was planning to do some fly and didn't want to be hitting the lane lines--or you? Maybe he was expecting some other folks to join, or they had just left? The possibilities are nearly limitless on why he preferred to circle. This is one--of many--nice things I like about swimming with a team. 95% (or more) of the time, we have 3+ swimmers per lane, and we circle, no questions. But, the past few weeks we've had a light crowd, due to the holidays and more recently unusually cool weather (we swim outside). Before we begin a set with just 2 per lane, I'll discuss with my lanemate if we're going side-by-side or circling. If the other lanes only have 1-2 swimmers, then side-by-side is OK. But if they have 2+, then I'd rather circle from the beginning, just in case someone else joins, rather than screw up my workout to switch. Even if we're side-by-side, I'll sometimes go 5 sec back, especially if any stroke work is involved...not just arms flapping for fly, but I don't swim back especially straight either. Someone had mentioned that they have a hard time NOT circling in meets. I'm still that way...I have to really think to swim down the middle. But as I began with, I think it is a bit premature to pass judgement on this unknown swimmer since we don't know how he perceived the situation.