I remember the noodler thread of a long time ago, and I just kinda laughed at the idea of how annoyed some swimmers were with the "noodling". Today, I had a particularly ugly encounter with some noodlers.
I haven't swam since my unfortunate exit, after the 200 IM, at Nationals. Tuesday and Wednesday I had really bad food poisoning that had me laid out the entire time (when I wasn't yakking my guts out!), and on top of it all, I'm one month pregnant with number 4. (Happy about pregnancy, not so much about the other things).
So, my first day back swimming was today at the gym, on this beautiful, sunny 75 degree day. Ahhh. There's a 5 lane 25m pool. Albeit too warm because of the charming noodlers!
I got in, swam an easy 1000, and then the noodler class started. I was in lane 2 as lane 1 is really narrow. I knew that the noodlers get lanes 3-5. I went to push off the wall and a noodler was about 7 meters out right in front of me. Good thing I looked, or she would have had some owies. I stopped and looked at her (she couldn't see the glare in my eyes because I had my goggles on). She just stood there looking at me. A "friend" of hers said, "Do you want to move over?" She asked. I said, "No. I don't." To which she replied, "We get three lanes." I said, "You HAVE three lanes." Apparently, when a lane line isn't in, that counts as one! Long and short of it is I moved over.
It gets better. The "lady" (blue suit) who told me about how many lanes they get started chipping on me as I was swimming/kicking. I held my tongue for awhile and then suggested that she "grow up."
I finished 2,000m which was just right for me, now, and was sitting on the deck, while a guy who was obviously waiting for our ONE lane, got in. I was watching the noodlers noticing that of the 25 of them or so, they were all much older ladies or younger, MUCH heavier "ladies". I'm guessing over 300 pounds, which might account for their ill temper. Blue suit was probably pushing 350. As I was sitting their I saw her turn around, look right at me, and clear as day, say to her friend, "The b!t@h got out!" I couldn't believe my ears, was she kidding me?!
I walked over to her and from the side said, "Do you have a problem with me?" She said, "No. Why?" And I said, "I have a problem being called a b!t#h for no good reason." She didn't answer again, but her friend said, "She didn't say that." I told her that I clearly heard her. She said, "She doesn't even use words like that. She said, 'You got out.' " (Oh, they sound so similar! Plus it doesn't even make sense, she wasn't talking to me! Anyway...)
I said again, "If you have a problem I think you should talk to me." She still didn't answer. Her friend said, "If you have a problem, maybe you should go to the front desk." I said, "I'd rather work it out with you." So, I hadn't thought of going to the front desk, but it sounded good.
The manager came over and I pointed them out and he said he'd give me a call... we'll see.
I couldn't believe the rudeness. I'm sure not all noodlers are that rude, but she was over the top.
Saturday morning I was swimming on my own. Three of the five lanes were being used for a noodler class (and yes they seem to love when I swim fly past them). I was in the non-wall lane and another "baggy shorts, I only swim a 25 at a time" swimmer was in the wall lane. I just finished a long free set and was getting ready for some fly when another baggy shorted guy came up to me and asked if I wanted to split or circle. I said, it's up to you, can I just do a quick 50 fly first? He glared and me and said something rude and stormed off. I still don't know what I did. At least I had the lane to myself for the rest of practice.
To answer your "what did I do question?" -- Tone of Voice. I am willing to bet he took your tone the wrong way. Happens all the time. I've tried to approach other wanna-join-me swimmers with a super-overly-friendly welcoming tone. Haven't had any problems from the folks who joined in or the folks who decided to go to a different lane (except for what i mentioned earlier)
Oh FlyQueen, you are so abrasive.
Saturday morning I was swimming on my own. Three of the five lanes were being used for a noodler class (and yes they seem to love when I swim fly past them). I was in the non-wall lane and another "baggy shorts, I only swim a 25 at a time" swimmer was in the wall lane. I just finished a long free set and was getting ready for some fly when another baggy shorted guy came up to me and asked if I wanted to split or circle. I said, it's up to you, can I just do a quick 50 fly first? He glared and me and said something rude and stormed off. I still don't know what I did. At least I had the lane to myself for the rest of practice.
Obiwan, you've taught me well: I've had so many grateful looks from swimmers I split a lane with when I tell them if they want to swim some fly to let me know and I'll take a breather. It's more self-preservation than graciousness!
Maybe FlyQueen was racing the Queen of Fly (aka some_girl).
We don't need to race anymore. We already know who is fastest at a 50. (The girl whose lane I was in of course!)
To answer your "what did I do question?" -- Tone of Voice. I am willing to bet he took your tone the wrong way. Happens all the time. I've tried to approach other wanna-join-me swimmers with a super-overly-friendly welcoming tone. Haven't had any problems from the folks who joined in or the folks who decided to go to a different lane (except for what i mentioned earlier)
Oh FlyQueen, you are so abrasive.
I doubt it was tone of voice, although FlyQueen is loud and bossy. It was probably just the mere mention of the word fly. Many lap swimmers are very gracious and actually enjoy watching fly. Others just look irritated like you have no right to be swimming during designated lap swim -- an odd position since you've paid for admission too.
If you want a lane to yourself, just bring a monofin. Most people take one look at that device, and look for another lane.
:bouncing:
Ha, ha! One of the true challenges of swimming is not only swimming one's workout but dealing with "pool politics"! :argue: If all the different users of the pool could just get together (on or off-line) and vent and then hammer out some sort of Geneva Accord, :argue: could turn into :smooch: and/or :hug: but I'm not holding my breath (well, except sometimes, unevenly, during 25s).
I have to get your opinions on an incident I experienced yesterday--which in retrospect, I think may have just reflected a communication problem rather than anyone being intentionally rude. I was doing my workout during the lap swim period in a lane that was empty and not marked with any speed (fast, medium, slow). Sometimes the signs are up, but often they're not, and generally speaking, there's some diversity of speed in all the lanes except the one for water walking/very easy swimming. I was doing a 300 (circling) while some kids from the swim team came into the lane, swimming pretty fast. It gave me a bit of a start b/c suddenly the kid was almost on top of me, and although I had no intention of getting in the way, and also assumed that they'd probably be able to manage with me in the lane, since they'd chosen that lane, even so, I was uneasy enough to move into the next lane where there was a gent swimming about my speed. And I waited until he knew I was interested in sharing before I started to swim.
Most of the time, I'm cool w/ ppl wanting to do a workout in the lane I'm in, but still would have felt better if the kids had said something to me before just sweeping up the lane. It's always possible they didn't know when I'd pause and didn't want to interrupt me. One of the kids finally turned to me after I got in the next lane and said (not too convincingly, but maybe that was me), "sorry we kicked you out of your lane." But then again, they're kids, and probably just eager to get in some extra practice, so not really thinking of anything or anyone else. (Maybe they deserve credit for being so focused.) In retrospect, I don't think they meant to be rude, just I felt kind of miffed at them for how they moved into the lane.
But since I was circling, they may have felt that I was already giving permission to share. It's just that often older swimmers with serious workout intentions will let me know what they're planning on and I can either hang in or move depending on whether I'm up for the intensity or not. I didn't feel I had that chance with the kids. But maybe they took for granted that they could move in as long as they circled. I want to be respectful of others' workouts, and at the same time to have mine (albeit slow) respected as well.
Should note (don't know if important): after I left the lane, one or two more swim team members came in to use that lane, so there were maybe 3-4 kids at a time. Decided it was good I left the lane when I did. Also should note that although I shouldn't and have to work on this, I lose concentration/focus when someone comes into my lane unexpectedly. If, as the guy who later shared my new lane did, the person signals their intent to join me, I'm cool, usually feel okay w/ it, and can work around the lane partner. But not so easily if I'm caught off guard and the other person's speed/ swim style is way different from mine.
Pools are small, and the number of people wanting to use them is growing. The good thing is that maybe more people see the need to get away from the tv set and do something. The bad thing is that there are so many varieties of doing something that collisions (verbal and otherwise) are inevitable.
I think the reason most people are either clueless or rude about swimming is because anyone can jump in a pool and having a suit apparently qualifies you as a swimmer. No lardo would go on a basketball court, golf course, tennis court or baseball field without any knowledge of the game or the rules, yet give some 350 pound granny a noodle and she's the new authority on swimming.
The ironic thing is that most pools go out of their way to post signs and rules whereas other sporting areas generally don't post a thing.
I bet the person you said "50 fly" thought you were going to swim "50 laps of fly" most noodlers and others don't understand some of our terms.
that would get my vote. i've definitely told noodlers that i only had about a 300 to finish up and get some nasty looks and world-weary sighs, as if a 300 is going to take me another hour. i've tried to get in the habit of telling them how much i've got left in terms of minutes, rather than distance...
but thankfully, this should be my last weekend to have to deal with noodlers on a near-daily basis- our pool opens back up on monday! :party2:
