Proper Etiquette in this situation

However, what do you do in this practice situation? You are swimming 2nd in the lane. Boy in front of you starts missing the intervals during the last 25% of the set. He's done a great job of leading the lane until this point. You catch up to him as your entire lane is now missing the intervals However, you are not sure you can/ should pass him. Should I have tried to pass even though we were at the tail end of the set (and passing would be a heck of a chore as we were all pretty dead)? Stayed on his feet as the set is almost over? Waited another 5 seconds but then having other people on my feet? No one else was really on my feet as we had sort of put some distance between us and the rest of the lane. I sort of feel if the lane leader misses the send offs that it's more of a touch and go/ anything goes/ fend for yourself scenario. Thanks! I run into this practically every time I train with our local Masters group. As the leader. I have one woman that trains with me that is really very talented. She was a wunderkind when she was a teen-ager and really has not aged much since then. She is also extremely competitive. We train in a crowded 25 meter pool, so 5 seconds apart is practically required. She almost never goes lead off despite the fact she can keep up and kick my ass most days. Her typical pattern is to go slightly less than 5 apart, then drop on your feet at about the 50 meter mark and hang on for the entire set. Is she drafting? Of course. Does is matter to me? Sometimes. As the leader (I share it with another guy who, despite only training sporadically, can kick it into high gear anytime he chooses and burn by me) I ignore her competitive training most of the time. Sometimes I feel crowded and, if I can, I just turn it up a notch and pull away. If I have nothing in the tank (like I tend to as my blood glucose bottoms out if I skip eating before training), I am more than happy to drop out and let her buzz by. That is what I think should happen. Its just one rep of one set of one work-out in a long line of sessions. I think you should have just stuck to YOUR pace time and let him decide to drop back on his own or put up with you barking at his feet. If he drops back, then he will likely get that five more seconds of rest he needs to regain his form while you get bragging rights to completing the set. If he stays in front and starts to become road kill, then you need to just keep on tapping at the door until he figures out that he needs to drop back. Otherwise he is the guy failing to have proper etiquette. I do not believe passing in mid pool is ever a good bet: you will blow yourself out to get by, then you will start missing the set because you screwed up your pace. Those short rest sets are all about setting a pace and staying in the groove. If you start trying to sprint in mid pool, I cannot think of a better way of destroying your groove.

However, what do you do in this practice situation? You are swimming 2nd in the lane. Boy in front of you starts missing the intervals during the last 25% of the set. He's done a great job of leading the lane until this point. You catch up to him as your entire lane is now missing the intervals However, you are not sure you can/ should pass him. Should I have tried to pass even though we were at the tail end of the set (and passing would be a heck of a chore as we were all pretty dead)? Stayed on his feet as the set is almost over? Waited another 5 seconds but then having other people on my feet? No one else was really on my feet as we had sort of put some distance between us and the rest of the lane. I sort of feel if the lane leader misses the send offs that it's more of a touch and go/ anything goes/ fend for yourself scenario. Thanks! I run into this practically every time I train with our local Masters group. As the leader. I have one woman that trains with me that is really very talented. She was a wunderkind when she was a teen-ager and really has not aged much since then. She is also extremely competitive. We train in a crowded 25 meter pool, so 5 seconds apart is practically required. She almost never goes lead off despite the fact she can keep up and kick my ass most days. Her typical pattern is to go slightly less than 5 apart, then drop on your feet at about the 50 meter mark and hang on for the entire set. Is she drafting? Of course. Does is matter to me? Sometimes. As the leader (I share it with another guy who, despite only training sporadically, can kick it into high gear anytime he chooses and burn by me) I ignore her competitive training most of the time. Sometimes I feel crowded and, if I can, I just turn it up a notch and pull away. If I have nothing in the tank (like I tend to as my blood glucose bottoms out if I skip eating before training), I am more than happy to drop out and let her buzz by. That is what I think should happen. Its just one rep of one set of one work-out in a long line of sessions. I think you should have just stuck to YOUR pace time and let him decide to drop back on his own or put up with you barking at his feet. If he drops back, then he will likely get that five more seconds of rest he needs to regain his form while you get bragging rights to completing the set. If he stays in front and starts to become road kill, then you need to just keep on tapping at the door until he figures out that he needs to drop back. Otherwise he is the guy failing to have proper etiquette. I do not believe passing in mid pool is ever a good bet: you will blow yourself out to get by, then you will start missing the set because you screwed up your pace. Those short rest sets are all about setting a pace and staying in the groove. If you start trying to sprint in mid pool, I cannot think of a better way of destroying your groove.