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"...
Former Member
I have been to some pools where they put signs for Fast, Medium and Slow.
Where I swim they cater to peoples' egos so much that we don't have a slow lane.
It's a six lane wide pool, divided into four 1.5 width lanes.
And they're marked Leisure (where it's really just float and chat) and then three lanes are
Fast, Medium Fast and Medium.
And yet, you should see that the majority of some egos could never accept to be seen in the slower than Fast lane.
Sometimes it's good for me.The two faster lanes get crowded with "egos" and the slowest (Medium) lane is almost mine alone.
There is great signage at our pool. 1st lane Big sign Slow Lane, lane #2 Lap Swimmers lane #3 Fast Swimmers Only The only thing wrong no one can read.
At our pool, not realizing that our swimmers cannot even read a four letter word, starting with "F" followed by a vowel and two consonants, one of the lifeguards put up a sign saying "Speed of at least 1:30 per 100m". And you should have seen the number of people who bothered to look at that sign, nodded and got into..................the "F" lane. (And, in my opinion, they couldn't do 25m in 1:30 if their life depended on it.)
It's not like we go around grabbing at people's legs!! It's just a little brush w/ the hand as you continue the pull stroke.
The toe tap gets annoying because some people DO expect you to stop swimming and let them go by. It's an old age group thing--the kids would try to catch the person in front (usually not leaving 5 seconds between to boot) and tap-tap-tap away until the leader gets annoyed.
I'd much rather have someone tap me on the leg as they are passing becuase it tells me they're actually on the way past, not waiting for me to get out of the way.:2cents:
I have always been taught that it is the slower persons responsibility to not impact the faster person. Of course that would only apply if there were slower lanes.
It is frustrating to be shooting for a time and have someone interfere do to a lack of courtsey, if there is a slower lane.
I know where everyone is in my lane. I can see a faster person catching me. It is not the faster persons responsibility to tap a foot. It is the slower swimmers responsibility to get out of the way.
As in most things in life speed rules.
Along these lines I have been surprised the number of times that people (slower than me) have gotten in the lane I am in when there are multiple completely empty lanes! I usually just roll my eyes and move over to one of the empty lanes.
Our six-lane pool is usually divided into three double lanes going out along the lane line and back in the center so passing, at least coming back in the center, doesn't usually involve playing chicken.
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.
