There is a swimmer in our pool whose appearance is "dreaded" by many of us. As soon as she enters your lane and starts her laps, the whole lane gets slowed down for a at least an hour, because, #1, she never stops and never give a chance to others when she's at the end of the pool and is going for another lap while another swimmer had been waiting to start; #2, whenever she encounters someone during the laps (whether in the same or opposite direction), she would continue as if others don't exist, as if it's her own lane and as if she's thinking "get out of my way please"; #3, and that's the most important point: she's slower than all the others in the lane. So everyone else has to slow down because the lane is not so wide, and from time to time you see people try everything they could to get around her, or backstrokers hitting her from behind (and she would still go on like you were just a fly).
She usually continues like this for at least one hour, could be 90 minutes. She probably has her rule in mind, to never stop during the lap. That's fine as many of people here do that, but that works only if your speed is comparable to the others sharing the lane.
What's the best way to deal with such a fellow swimmer?
The thing is - this person may be clueless as to etiquette. Sometimes it's worth explaining it, and sometimes you'll just be met with a blank stare. In any case, the slow person has as much right to swim as the fast people do. Most of the plodders I've met don't know how to swim anything other than straight laps (nor do they want to). It there's a "slow" lane marked, the person should be directed there, but if it's every swimmer for themselves...oh well. We all have a right to the water.
The thing is - this person may be clueless as to etiquette. Sometimes it's worth explaining it, and sometimes you'll just be met with a blank stare. In any case, the slow person has as much right to swim as the fast people do. Most of the plodders I've met don't know how to swim anything other than straight laps (nor do they want to). It there's a "slow" lane marked, the person should be directed there, but if it's every swimmer for themselves...oh well. We all have a right to the water.
