Hi! New guy to the forums here, and pretty new to lap swimming too -- I've been doing it since May sometime.
More than once when I've wanted to join someone in a lane I've found it difficult to get their attention. At first I thought people just didn't want to share, but then I paid attention while I was swimming and realized that when you're looking at the bottom of the pool it is indeed easy to miss someone standing on the edge.
So what do you do? I've taken to dangling my feet deep enough that they're hard to miss, but is this obnoxious? Does anybody have pointers for getting someone's attention without annoying them when you need to share a lane?
Parents
Former Member
I know there is an assumption from some long time swimmers that EVERYONE knows that there are two ways to share a lane (circle and split), but many swimmers have not been doing this as long as others. The commonly most commonly taught method for sharing a lane is circling.
Everyone has to start somewhere and while some people are only able to do a few laps as compared to continuous long yardage, they have a right to use the lane as well. It has to be very intimidating and non-motivating to have someone be overtly rude about it.
Now...if the new swimmer is just being plain rude, all bets are off. Respect goes both ways.
I know there is an assumption from some long time swimmers that EVERYONE knows that there are two ways to share a lane (circle and split), but many swimmers have not been doing this as long as others. The commonly most commonly taught method for sharing a lane is circling.
Everyone has to start somewhere and while some people are only able to do a few laps as compared to continuous long yardage, they have a right to use the lane as well. It has to be very intimidating and non-motivating to have someone be overtly rude about it.
Now...if the new swimmer is just being plain rude, all bets are off. Respect goes both ways.
