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.
I agree that space was definitely an issue. I, too, was trying to warm up, not cool down, but gave up because the pool was so crowded.
Still, going full force in such a crowded pool with so many swimmers of varying speeds seems dangerous. It wasn't just a 100 or so, it was a good long time. And flipping onto people coming off of walls is a good way to break someone's arm/smash their head/any number of things.
Maybe meet organizers for these big meets should think about having specific lanes designated for fast warmup people, medium/other warmup people, and then the third lane for warming-down people.
I felt it was disrespectful and irresponsible, and it gave me a bad feeling for swimming, just for that moment. Masters swimming is for all levels; thus elite swimmers, though wanting to do their best, need to try not to kill less elite swimmers somehow, and should be aware that they are swimming in a way that could hurt someone pretty badly, including themselves.
I agree that space was definitely an issue. I, too, was trying to warm up, not cool down, but gave up because the pool was so crowded.
Still, going full force in such a crowded pool with so many swimmers of varying speeds seems dangerous. It wasn't just a 100 or so, it was a good long time. And flipping onto people coming off of walls is a good way to break someone's arm/smash their head/any number of things.
Maybe meet organizers for these big meets should think about having specific lanes designated for fast warmup people, medium/other warmup people, and then the third lane for warming-down people.
I felt it was disrespectful and irresponsible, and it gave me a bad feeling for swimming, just for that moment. Masters swimming is for all levels; thus elite swimmers, though wanting to do their best, need to try not to kill less elite swimmers somehow, and should be aware that they are swimming in a way that could hurt someone pretty badly, including themselves.
