i swim in the medium to slower lanes at a very competitive masters team workouts in san diego, and am usually asked to slide down to slower lanes when the equal ability swimmers (vs triathletes) show up.
the funny thing is most of these swimmers use a pull bouy or fins for the WHOLE workout. i think it's a ego thing in la-la land.
i would like to swim with people who can push me harder, instead of down in the last slowest lane. should i just chalk it up to normal swimmers protocal? or find another team? :confused:
What I am taking from this discussion is that I am very lucky to swim where I do. We have 10 lanes available 5 mornings a week, and we rarely have any irresolvable speed differentials. I think the only time we had any lapping in recent memory was during a 500 for time, and the day swimmj referred to with super fast dude in with the chicks.
We also don't have any equipment abusers on the team. The folks who fin or paddle up are usually injured or easing back into shape after a layoff, and no one begrudges them their lane space. If anything, we're more guilty of not using equipment when the coach calls for it. I don't own paddles, so don't use them for pull sets, and quit fins altogether for a while when I thought they might be hurting my knees. My teammates are used to me cluttering up the lane on kick sets anyway, and I just stay out of the way and cut the set short as necessary.
Our coaches are particularly good at choosing lane intervals, and are aggressive about placing people in the appropriate lanes for the days workout, depending on what is planned. If it's a really crowded day, we will sometimes do "last man" intervals (lead swimmers go on last touch, or last +5, or whatever), which generally rewards the faster swimmers with more rest and makes the last man work his or her tail off. I've also heard the coaches ask swimmers "what's up with the fins/buoy?" and the like, so they are pretty on it.
Puff, you'd love Oregon. We have loads of really fast swimmers, and an complete lack of ego and attitude issues. And it's a great place to live -- except, of course for the constant drizzle (that's our story, and we're sticking to it. Any photos you have seen of Oregon in which the sun appears to be shining or the sky is anything other than a leaden gray have been Photoshopped.)
What I am taking from this discussion is that I am very lucky to swim where I do. We have 10 lanes available 5 mornings a week, and we rarely have any irresolvable speed differentials. I think the only time we had any lapping in recent memory was during a 500 for time, and the day swimmj referred to with super fast dude in with the chicks.
We also don't have any equipment abusers on the team. The folks who fin or paddle up are usually injured or easing back into shape after a layoff, and no one begrudges them their lane space. If anything, we're more guilty of not using equipment when the coach calls for it. I don't own paddles, so don't use them for pull sets, and quit fins altogether for a while when I thought they might be hurting my knees. My teammates are used to me cluttering up the lane on kick sets anyway, and I just stay out of the way and cut the set short as necessary.
Our coaches are particularly good at choosing lane intervals, and are aggressive about placing people in the appropriate lanes for the days workout, depending on what is planned. If it's a really crowded day, we will sometimes do "last man" intervals (lead swimmers go on last touch, or last +5, or whatever), which generally rewards the faster swimmers with more rest and makes the last man work his or her tail off. I've also heard the coaches ask swimmers "what's up with the fins/buoy?" and the like, so they are pretty on it.
Puff, you'd love Oregon. We have loads of really fast swimmers, and an complete lack of ego and attitude issues. And it's a great place to live -- except, of course for the constant drizzle (that's our story, and we're sticking to it. Any photos you have seen of Oregon in which the sun appears to be shining or the sky is anything other than a leaden gray have been Photoshopped.)
