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"...
the hardest thing about passing in a 25 pool for me is the extra energy it takes.
the other night we had all the age group and master swimmers swimming together in 6 lanes. no real coaches, just a swim instructor with pass from the head coach. so in my lane I got stuck with two 14-15 yr olds that didn't really want to be there and sat on the wall more than they swam. in the lane next to me was our fastest 16yr old and he had two slower girls, that did the whole workout, but chose to swim it with slower starts and more rest between sets.
when we got to the last part of the series 2x600 arm, I think the 16yr old and I were about 600-700m ahead of the rest. so they were still swimming 4x200 or 4x100. so we start our first 600, I did my best to hang on to the 16yr old. I keep my eye on the clock, feels like we are swimming fast, but it's doesn't hurt. to my surprise I turn at the 400m at 5:05. my fastest 400m as a Masters swimmer is 5:02. finished the 600 at 7:40 the last 35m or so I was force to slow down because of the other two swimmers I didn't have the energy or the speed to pass them both.
In the second 600, again I stuck behind both guys between 100-150 they didn't effect my time so much, but mentally I felt I couldn't get back into the same speed. the 16yr old had no problems passing his lane partners. I did 5:10 and 7:45 so it was not much slower, but mentally the second swim was so much more work.
the hardest thing about passing in a 25 pool for me is the extra energy it takes.
the other night we had all the age group and master swimmers swimming together in 6 lanes. no real coaches, just a swim instructor with pass from the head coach. so in my lane I got stuck with two 14-15 yr olds that didn't really want to be there and sat on the wall more than they swam. in the lane next to me was our fastest 16yr old and he had two slower girls, that did the whole workout, but chose to swim it with slower starts and more rest between sets.
when we got to the last part of the series 2x600 arm, I think the 16yr old and I were about 600-700m ahead of the rest. so they were still swimming 4x200 or 4x100. so we start our first 600, I did my best to hang on to the 16yr old. I keep my eye on the clock, feels like we are swimming fast, but it's doesn't hurt. to my surprise I turn at the 400m at 5:05. my fastest 400m as a Masters swimmer is 5:02. finished the 600 at 7:40 the last 35m or so I was force to slow down because of the other two swimmers I didn't have the energy or the speed to pass them both.
In the second 600, again I stuck behind both guys between 100-150 they didn't effect my time so much, but mentally I felt I couldn't get back into the same speed. the 16yr old had no problems passing his lane partners. I did 5:10 and 7:45 so it was not much slower, but mentally the second swim was so much more work.
