I need some help here folks.
Those of you who "know" me know that I am a beginning "serious" swimmer. I've been slowly but steadily working my way up to swimming a mile as my first goal I'm pleased with the progress I've made, feel stronger, dropped some pounds, added some muscle - all good stuff.
Because I am a slower swimmer, I've tried to be careful not to get in the way of stronger swimmers' workouts. I try to enter lanes where I can match the pace and let people pass me if I get overtaken.
Usually, if I share with just one other person, we split the lane down the middle rather than circle swim. This works out great. If we add another swimmer, we circle. I thought this was the norm for two people.
This evening, though, I asked to share a wall lane with a man who was a faster swimmer. All the other lanes had 2 people. No one was circling. I suggested we split the lane, and he said, no - circle swim only. I warned him that I swim slowly, but no dice. Circle swim only.
So we circle swam - no, he circle swam, and I got out of his way every 50-75 yards. I'm mad at myself because I messed my own workout up as I was pushing myself to swim faster and exhausted myself far short of my goal.
So, please help me out here: is it wrong to split a lane with just 2 people? What is the "right" way to handle this situation? As I develop into a stronger swimmer, I feel I have a place at the pool. I'm just not just where that is.
Many thanks - Barb
Parents
Former Member
....I wouldn't have had any problems, but I kept getting my ankle grabbed so I moved aside at turns for him....
It is fairly common practice to tap someone’s foot to indicate the intention to pass, but if you were being grabbed I’d consider that unacceptably rude behavior that should be corrected (either by you or the pool staff). It does indeed seem like this person was trying to bully you out of “their” lane. No one wants to split a wall lane and get the wall side, but there is no good excuse (IMHO) for how this person was treating you. At the very least you should inquire about the situation with the pool staff so they are aware that there is a potential problem.
I’ve done quite a bit of research on lane sharing etiquette and there is no clear cut universal “right” policy, so your best bet is to check with the resident lifeguard or pool staff for the policy there in these situations. I believe the USMS web has some articles on lane sharing rules, as do a few other webs (try Googling the subject, or searching the archives here if you want to know more). A fairly recent copy of the USMS magazine had an article on the subject, but the following issue had to publish a correction, which is pretty indicative of the various (sometimes-vague) schools of thought on the process. So some confusion should be expected, especially when frequently sharing lanes with strangers, since there is more than one idea out there regarding what is correct.
http://www.usms.org/articles/www.google.com/search
forums.usms.org/search.php
(There are also Forum and Thread search links near the top of each message page.)
....I wouldn't have had any problems, but I kept getting my ankle grabbed so I moved aside at turns for him....
It is fairly common practice to tap someone’s foot to indicate the intention to pass, but if you were being grabbed I’d consider that unacceptably rude behavior that should be corrected (either by you or the pool staff). It does indeed seem like this person was trying to bully you out of “their” lane. No one wants to split a wall lane and get the wall side, but there is no good excuse (IMHO) for how this person was treating you. At the very least you should inquire about the situation with the pool staff so they are aware that there is a potential problem.
I’ve done quite a bit of research on lane sharing etiquette and there is no clear cut universal “right” policy, so your best bet is to check with the resident lifeguard or pool staff for the policy there in these situations. I believe the USMS web has some articles on lane sharing rules, as do a few other webs (try Googling the subject, or searching the archives here if you want to know more). A fairly recent copy of the USMS magazine had an article on the subject, but the following issue had to publish a correction, which is pretty indicative of the various (sometimes-vague) schools of thought on the process. So some confusion should be expected, especially when frequently sharing lanes with strangers, since there is more than one idea out there regarding what is correct.
http://www.usms.org/articles/www.google.com/search
forums.usms.org/search.php
(There are also Forum and Thread search links near the top of each message page.)
