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"...
I think I first brought up that the responsibility rests with the passer in the other thread. When I wrote it I specifically had in mind the case where people want a lanemate to lead the lane. In that case I think the responsibility is on the passer. After all, they were the ones who told the other person to lead.
I think this is the general case, too, but it's always a nice gesture to stop if it's not too inconvenient. For example, if you're doing a swim for time there's no reason to make your time slower just to let someone else pass.
As far as the foot tap, I've always hated that.
I think I first brought up that the responsibility rests with the passer in the other thread. When I wrote it I specifically had in mind the case where people want a lanemate to lead the lane. In that case I think the responsibility is on the passer. After all, they were the ones who told the other person to lead.
I think this is the general case, too, but it's always a nice gesture to stop if it's not too inconvenient. For example, if you're doing a swim for time there's no reason to make your time slower just to let someone else pass.
As far as the foot tap, I've always hated that.
