Why do rec swimmers split the lane?

it depends who it is. if it is another masters swimmer. i will stagger because if you both swim the same speed, arms and legs fly. i have been hurt in the past splitting the lane as the lane was not regulation width. i took a paddle to the head. i have also chopped a few heads swimming fly when i split so i prefer to stagger or circle. )i have a wide wing span. How does circle swimming makes one less likely to crash into a lane mate? It seems to me that no matter how you proceed down the lane, you will encounter your lane mate once per length (maybe twice if the other person is a lot faster than you.) Not being snarky, just trying to understand.

I find myself swimming with older folks who get disoriented just swimming, I would hate to find out what would happen if I asked them to circle. Lord knows I'll be in their shoes one day, though I will vacate the lap swim area the day I can't produce a semi recognizable stroke. Some of these people could have 10' wide lanes and they would still swim zig zag or take up 75% of the lane. I have cut my hands, arms and feet too many times while trying to stay out of the way and after breaking 3 toes this spring (not swimming, but never mind that) I'm a bit neurotic when it comes to sharing a lane with anyone! You wanna share? Split 50/50-or go to the open water area.

had to split today. he was slower but i was next to a lane of 13yr old boys. when they went by, it was hell. i got whacked in the head, kicked under the lane line but they couldn't help it ,they had 4 or 5 to a lane. i noticed my times were slower than if i swim alone . is it the wave factor that adds to time?

But if the other swimmer/s is slower/faster than you, you'll end up having the very same problem....so unless you can dictate the speed swum in "your" lane, you end up passing or will be passed by faster swimmers all the time. If there is someone catching me while circle swimming I'll do a flip and hold underwater on the wall until they pass, then push off. No big deal and they don't have to pass while swimming the same direction. When passing while circling you just have to roll the dice about whether the slower swimmer will stop on the wall for you. If not, then you only have to pass going the same direction under that scenario. To each their own; people have been preferring one or the other for decades- I'd rather circle.

I can't imagine circling when I can split. Only in Hell would circle swimming with 2 per lane be mandatory.

I always split if I can, it's more comfortable for me. In fact, i'll wait (if the lanes are full) so that I can split. I don't want to have to worry about annoying someone if i'm much slower than they are. If i'm mid set and a third jumps in, then i'll circle ... figure they've scoped the lanes a bit and are (hopefully) at a similar level. I've learned to make sure that if I'm sharing a lane that we both know what we're doing. rec swimmers almost always split by default, but if you jump in with someone who usually swims on a team, they have a tendency to circle. A little pre swim conference is a good way to avoid a bruised head.

But, dudes and dudettes, circle should be the last resort. If you've been a swimmer any portion of your life circling is ingrained. I always circle unless there is some set that where my lane mate and I are not doing the same thing (stroke versus free). To me, splitting a lane is a complete hassle. I think splitting is the last resort. It's also not very welcoming. If you are a swimmer, you circle, period. If you are a noodler, you can split or do some other form of lane sharing.

If you've been a swimmer any portion of your life circling is ingrained. I always circle unless there is some set that where my lane mate and I are not doing the same thing (stroke versus free). To me, splitting a lane is a complete hassle. I think splitting is the last resort. It's also not very welcoming. If you are a swimmer, you circle, period. If you are a noodler, you can split or do some other form of lane sharing. i have tried every trick in the book when swimming in a pool on vacation(fly, kicking, flailing) to no avail, i always get the slowest rec swimmer or hte one who doesn't want their hair wet- in the lane with me. out of hAbit, i find myself circling too. however, i got confused in 2000 Worlds warm up when one warm up lane went clockswise and the other counterclockwise.

If you've been a swimmer any portion of your life circling is ingrained. I always circle unless there is some set that where my lane mate and I are not doing the same thing (stroke versus free). To me, splitting a lane is a complete hassle. I think splitting is the last resort. It's also not very welcoming. If you are a swimmer, you circle, period. If you are a noodler, you can split or do some other form of lane sharing. That's not true for me. I was a swimmer through college and I always prefer to split the lane. We split the lane often in practice in college so we would swim straight up and down and not tend to circle in races. It's WAY too annoying to circle when doing different work-outs. Do you enjoy circling with someone who's primarily kicking when you are trying to do speedwork? Splitting, when possible, is the only way to go IMHO.

Do you enjoy circling with someone who's primarily kicking when you are trying to do speedwork? Um, no, which is why I said we split if doing different stuff within a set. I guess if you always split it's fine but going back and forth gets me confused. Plus, our team circles 95% of the time.