I was at a huge meet recently (more than 600 swimmers) and thus the warmup/warmdown pool (3 lanes, 25 yards) was very crowded.
There were about 5 people in the lane I was warming up in, including one guy who kept barreling into the wall when there were two of us already there, who did flip turns at full force and nearly killed me with one, and then kept swimming down the middle of the lane between the two-way circling traffic.
I felt this was dangerous. I stopped him by pulling on his suit and told him so. He said something back that wasn't "Oh, sorry!" and continued to barrel around people.
I got out.
What is the etiquette for warmup/warmdown pools at such large meets? I know people need to sprint some, but this guy really could have hurt me or any of the other swimmers in the lane.
I tried to search to see if this has been discussed before but didn't find anything. I know that most accidents/injuries at meets occur in the warmup/warmdown pool.
What is the etiquette? Should I have gotten a more official person to tell this guy to respect the other swimmers?
P.S. I swam all my events despite only 3 weeks back in the water, including the 400 IM, which I decided to consider performance art.
We need to post a meet etiquette list here I suppose... I'll see if I can find one.
But at every single meet I am reminded of one of my real pet peeves.
Crowded warm-up conditions with swimmers hanging on the wall just talking.
As it is, the turns are difficult to practice with all the different speeds intermingled.
But trying to be safe, not hitting someone who is simply hanging out on the wall and not paying attention to the traffic coming and going - is enough to make me a bit nuts!
I'm pretty sure the worst experience I had with this was at NATIONALS involving some of the most elite of our masters swimmers!
In a way I had to smile because it was really due to old friends catching up and happy to see each other. But on the other hand, it was inconsiderate and even a bit dangerous.
Some championship meets have lanes designated for Seniors, Medium speed, sprinting, and different strokes but it isn't the normal scenario.
If the pool is crowded in warmups, do your catching up on the deck!
We need to post a meet etiquette list here I suppose... I'll see if I can find one.
But at every single meet I am reminded of one of my real pet peeves.
Crowded warm-up conditions with swimmers hanging on the wall just talking.
As it is, the turns are difficult to practice with all the different speeds intermingled.
But trying to be safe, not hitting someone who is simply hanging out on the wall and not paying attention to the traffic coming and going - is enough to make me a bit nuts!
I'm pretty sure the worst experience I had with this was at NATIONALS involving some of the most elite of our masters swimmers!
In a way I had to smile because it was really due to old friends catching up and happy to see each other. But on the other hand, it was inconsiderate and even a bit dangerous.
Some championship meets have lanes designated for Seniors, Medium speed, sprinting, and different strokes but it isn't the normal scenario.
If the pool is crowded in warmups, do your catching up on the deck!
