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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  • I tend to think it should be the job of the passer to get around the slower swimmer. The pool I swim at most often has very narrow lanes. There is one guy in particular that will pass me on sets, he always swims around me. I think it has more to do with how comfortable the faster swimmer is with passing. I also am willing to stop at a wall and let someone go around but I feel like I am cheating on my workout if I do this. It depends somewhat on who is behind me, what the set it and what I have in the tank. I hate the foot tap. I've gotten really used to the swim around. I also HATE when I get the foot tap in super crowded warm-up lanes at meets. Where the F does the person behind me think I am going to go??? :rant3: That's a story for a different day though.
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  • I tend to think it should be the job of the passer to get around the slower swimmer. The pool I swim at most often has very narrow lanes. There is one guy in particular that will pass me on sets, he always swims around me. I think it has more to do with how comfortable the faster swimmer is with passing. I also am willing to stop at a wall and let someone go around but I feel like I am cheating on my workout if I do this. It depends somewhat on who is behind me, what the set it and what I have in the tank. I hate the foot tap. I've gotten really used to the swim around. I also HATE when I get the foot tap in super crowded warm-up lanes at meets. Where the F does the person behind me think I am going to go??? :rant3: That's a story for a different day though.
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