Passing Etiquette

I did a search and didn't see a dedicated thread for this topic, which was inspired by a post by Chris Stevenson in the "How Many Swimmers Per Lane" Thread. I'll reproduce Chris's quote below (I hope you don't mind!) and my response (edited for context). What do others think? (Hopefully I didn't just miss the thread on this. Sorry if I did--I did run a search!) As far as passing goes, it is the responsibility of the passer. The slower person should not have to stop or slow -- indeed, s/he should not do anything differently...except perhaps be aware that s/he is being passed, swim in the proper part of the lane (esp not too far to the center) and don't do anything radical like speed up or move over suddenly. It was interesting to read Chris say that, because I have the opposite view. I think, once alerted by a tap on the feet, the person getting passed should stop at the next wall and get out of the passing person's way. Maybe I feel that way because I swim in a pool with very narrow lanes and it's just not feasible to swim around somebody. This is also the way it works in my lane (the person getting passed will stop to let the faster person by) so that might also influence my view of what is "right". But in any event it seems reasonably fair to me. It's the slower person holding the faster person up, so it seems fair that the slower person defer... I wonder if people's views are influenced by whether they are usually the "passer" or the "passee"...
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  • Ande's post was the funniest. Unless I scanned too quickly - what, no jokes about "toe tappers"? As a tappee, I don't like the bottom-of-the-foot tap. But only because it's not specific enough, and too jarring. I appreciate the "swipe to the ankle" which indicates hey, i'm coming up on your right or left side. I'm rarely a tapper. The problem is you have to exert a surge of energy to pass and maintain speed, or else then it's a vicious cycle of who's the tapper and tappee.
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  • Ande's post was the funniest. Unless I scanned too quickly - what, no jokes about "toe tappers"? As a tappee, I don't like the bottom-of-the-foot tap. But only because it's not specific enough, and too jarring. I appreciate the "swipe to the ankle" which indicates hey, i'm coming up on your right or left side. I'm rarely a tapper. The problem is you have to exert a surge of energy to pass and maintain speed, or else then it's a vicious cycle of who's the tapper and tappee.
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