Don't pee in the pool & other swimming etiquette

hunnymonster

This is a bit of a rant but I'm starting to get very frustrated with the behaviour of some people at my local pool.


Slower swimmers starting a set should wait to push off the wall until faster swimmers have passed

Allow swimmers doing faster strokes to go ahead

Swimmers resting or otherwise waiting at the wall should stay far to one side of the lane,

Make note of “Fast, Medium, and Slow” lane designations and choose the appropriate lane. Unless you're training for the olympics you probably shouldn't be breaststroking in the medium or fast lanes.

An overtaking swimmer should gently but distinctly touch the feet of the swimmer being overtaken. It may take two or three touches, but overtaking swimmers should not need to repeatedly slap or grab at the legs of a slower swimmer to politely make their presence known.A lead swimmer who feels a touch on the feet from an overtaking swimmer, should continue to the next wall, then stop in the corner of the lane to let faster swimmer(s) past. A single light touch may be accidental and can be ignored, but two or more distinct touches should be regarded almost universally as a request to swim through.


A lead swimmer who sees another swimmer coming up close behind as s/he turns at the wall should consider stopping and moving over immediately at that wall in order to let the faster swimmer past - rather than blocking that swimmer for an entire length to the next wall, creating a situation where toe-touching becomes necessary.

Be aware of how ‘wide’ stroke mechanics may impact adjacent swimmers. Some peoples' wild backstroke and butterfly arm strokes can hit swimmers in other lanes, as can an over-wide breaststroke kick.

Don’t ‘water-run’ or ‘aqua-jog’ in lap lanes—unless the pool is nearly empty. While both activities are valid forms of exercise that need to be respected and provisioned-for, they are inappropriate for lap lanes.

Respect the ‘toys’ of other swimmers. This should be self-explanatory to anyone who received a passing grade in kindergarten, but unfortunately it bears repeating with some adults. Simply put, no swimmer should ever swipe kickboards, fins, hand paddles, pull buoys or other 'devices' positioned at the end of a lap lane unless they first obtain the explicit permission of the person who brought it over to the side of the pool.

AngryHippie

Good stuff, It should be photocopied and given out to anyone using lanes. Introduced since Christmas in my local pool, Still havoc, kids swimming widths through the lanes, non swimmers going in there for a walk, women under the impression that they're o l y m p i a ns (why does it censor o l y m p i a ? ) breaststroking in front of a group of triatheletes..... People are getting used to it slowly, But an information sheet on the use of lanes might be an idea, People even manage to get the direction wrong, which is potentially lethal with two lanes side by side. Why do people unable for it automatically bail into the Fast lane, and people who should really be in the fast lane choose to continue in the casual area of the pool ?????

milod

I'm with you guys - we need public information films to educate imbeciles. I'm relatively lucky in that my pool is usually quiet (I'm fortunate enough to have a 'commercial' membership of the Guinness pool).

However, even here, you will encounter a55holes who insist on swimming across open lanes, idiots who sit on lane ropes, or push them into your path. But the worst of all are the d1ckheads who can't swim in a straight line - for whom I've perfected a nice wide backhand arc to slap them on the head...

promethius

Slower swimmers starting a set should wait to push off the wall until faster swimmers have passed[/FONT]
Swimmers resting or otherwise waiting at the wall should stay far to one side of the lane,[/FONT]

Excellent summary! The above are particularly good points.
Brother once pushed off into an oncoming (very large) novice. I was down the other end of the pool (25m one) and could heard the crash of skulls! They were both ok somehow
Nothing more ignorant than someone who is swimming slower and won't let you go at the wall. Makes for a good motivated sprint and you pass them on the length and come in a little too early with some good kicking in their face :-) They soon get the point!
Couple of sprints at the start of a session normally scares the faint hearted out of your chosen lane.

AngryHippie

Couple of sprints at the start of a session normally scares the faint hearted out of your chosen lane.

Lane Nazi !:D

I hear you though, a swift warmup sets the tone for the lane really. The sessions have settled down a good bit in the last week. Most of the swimmers are regulars, so They get in all gung ho once, get burned, and pick a lane that suits them, there's only a few cheeky ones left !

curious george

fantastic post-should definitely be stuck up by every pool. Got into a fast lane on sunday night with 2-3 v.slow, leisurely breaststrokers in it. Tried starting my session with a few sprints as suggested and magically had the lane to myself after 3x50 so whole-heartedly endorse that idea! (note:am by no means a pool nazi but the pool was pretty quiet so there was plenty room in the two slow lanes for slow breaststroking)
However, near the end of my session a couple got in who insisted on breast-stroking v.v. slowly SIDE BY SIDE up and down and finished each length with a snogging session by the wall which blocked the whole wall making any push-off impossible. Tried to sprint as fast as i could towards them at the end of each length, splashing like a drunken octopus but nothing was putting them off. It was all very romantic though!!

promethius

fantastic post-should definitely be stuck up by every pool. Got into a fast lane on sunday night with 2-3 v.slow, leisurely breaststrokers in it. Tried starting my session with a few sprints as suggested and magically had the lane to myself after 3x50 so whole-heartedly endorse that idea! (note:am by no means a pool nazi but the pool was pretty quiet so there was plenty room in the two slow lanes for slow breaststroking)
However, near the end of my session a couple got in who insisted on breast-stroking v.v. slowly SIDE BY SIDE up and down and finished each length with a snogging session by the wall which blocked the whole wall making any push-off impossible. Tried to sprint as fast as i could towards them at the end of each length, splashing like a drunken octopus but nothing was putting them off. It was all very romantic though!!

Glad to hear the old couple of sprints cleared the waters for you! Works nearly every time.
Another pool-nazi tip for you, when coming up to a wall that’s crowded with day trippers do a tumble turn and place your kick off between a couple of people, they will move if not for the first turn then definitely the second. Believe me. If I’ve done this it’s never because a lane is genuinely busy but just when people are gathering for a chat and making no effort to accommodate the swimmer. I've swum under breast strokers in the past in an effort to get by them when nothing else works or even changed lanes for the overtaking. I sound terrible now but i'm not an a**hole, just trying to get around inconsiderate people.
As for the heavy petting, most pools have rules on that I’m surprised the lifeguards didn’t move on any PG antics :-)

annmarie124

im sorry but i cant get the image of a drunken octopus out of my head!!
a new gym opened near where i live and at first was fine but eventually scumbags filtered in and this put an end to lane swimming all together. the points outlined in this post should be plastered in every pool nationwide!!

curious george

As for the heavy petting, most pools have rules on that I’m surprised the lifeguards didn’t move on any PG antics

good point- i think the life guards could be more pro-active in general really. If they saw someone clearly swimming too slow for a fast lane and obviously getting in the way I don't see why they couldn't have a quiet word with the person and suggest they might be better in another lane.

promethius

good point- i think the life guards could be more pro-active in general really. If they saw someone clearly swimming too slow for a fast lane and obviously getting in the way I don't see why they couldn't have a quiet word with the person and suggest they might be better in another lane.

Yep you’re not wrong. I’ve asked people to change lanes when necessary when working as a lifeguard. They didn’t always like it but was only fair.
I think less lifeguards now come from a real swimming background and don’t understand some of the issues such as this.

AngryHippie

promethius wrote: »

Yep you’re not wrong. I’ve asked people to change lanes when necessary when working as a lifeguard. They didn’t always like it but was only fair.
I think less lifeguards now come from a real swimming background and don’t understand some of the issues such as this.

I think you're lifeguards might be sick to the teeth of having to ask people to move and tellin couples to stop sucking the faces of each other. I know I don't bother asking couples in an adult session anymore. If theres kids in the pool its a different story. Lets just say its amazing what a cold hose can accomplish.
On moving people from lanes, I try and leave it up to people to move themselves, unless they are being silly about it, then its intervention time:D

snack_ie

MMM... Being in Australia... Swimming Pools everywhere... Proper etiqutte inforced...
Thank f*** i am not back at home for another 5 months...
If only I didnt break my foot - Went swimming for the first time in months and its not funny how bad I have become!
Ahhh

trinewbie

hate that snack...just you wait for Kenmare, your going down.you and that new bike of yours!:D

snack_ie

That's just my training bike... im hopefully going back through the US to pay a visit to RA Cycles... oh yeah! swimming is getting better... starting to get my game back... you will never beat me in a race one on one...

BossArky

Good idea about steaming up and down a few times to clear out the lane. The swimmers in my pool, being worse than me (and I'm not great) usually get the message and move over to the casual area.

I find the best time to swim is early on a saturday or sunday, or else in the hour before or after lunch hour on a weekday. I try to avoid peak times at all costs as it is a nightmare.

AckwelFoley

Rant about pee?


Ive seen the brown log floating in the old athlone pool.

BendiBus

This has been a great thread to read! I thought I was the only one who can't bear people displaying poor lane etiquette.

For slow swimmers who seem determined not to let me pass, as a last resort to get the message across I like to stop just before the wall at the shallow end, stand up and block them as they turn to start their next length. Then start off ahead of them with a good strong leg kick to send plenty of white water in their direction.

I've no qualms about splitting happy couples, or people chatting, by turning at the wall right between them (again using the white water generation technique mentioned above)

I consider myself a 'medium lane' swimmer so I have to allow some leeway as I always seem to be the fastest person in the medium lane, but I can't keep up over any distance in the fast lane (I usually do 1500 or a mile non-stop)

My biggest issue is the 'one length wonders' who come flying up behind me, making their presence known. I'd let them through and they'd suddenly throttle back to doggy-paddle. Tw*ts. So now anyone who catches up on me has to stay with me for at least a full lap, maybe more, before they get past.

AngryHippie

I consider myself a 'medium lane' swimmer so I have to allow some leeway as I always seem to be the fastest person in the medium lane, but I can't keep up over any distance in the fast lane (I usually do 1500 or a mile non-stop)

Being the fastest in the medium lane is horrible, All sorts wander into the medium lane, I'd work at creeping into the fast lane If I were you, try and get off the 1500m non-stop swim, It's good exercise, but its not going to develop your swimming much, You'd be much better off swimming 8x 200m and varying your pace, incorporating some leg isolation work and a sprint or two into your set. I'm not telling you how to swim, but it would be more productive for your own development without reducing or increasing your overall exercise level drastically. It'll definitely help you keep up in the fast lane a little better.

Out of curiosity, do you swim down at the end of your set ?
If not, its a must. After 1500m, muscles are tired and stroke technique suffers as a result, so unless you take a little extra time towards the end, let the pace drop a little, and focus solely on technique, you will end up never rectifying the small mistakes that only emerge when your tired.
Just some food for thought....

BendiBus

Thanks for the informative post! I'll start a new thread with my questions rather than take thie one off topic.

hunnymonster

<rant> there was an idiot in the mardyke pool this lunchtime, he was slowly breast-stroking along and a front crawler was passing him out in the medium lane. The breastie got out of the pool and asked the life guard to move the medium swimmer to the fast lane. The medium swimmer was about my speed so no way he should have been in the fast lane with the likes of trevor woods (who was also just getting in at the time). The lifeguard did move the mediums swimmer. I don't know who I'm madder at the idiot who was drifting faster than he was swimming or the lifeguard </rant>

AngryHippie

Bad call by the lifeguard. He should have known who was gonna be in the fast lane, Its usually one of the same 5 or 10 people, he should have ignored the whiner or put him out of the lanes altogether.

rubadub

snyper wrote: »

Rant about pee?

check this out:)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MstsOhlb1Ig

MCOS

curious george wrote: »

fantastic post-should definitely be stuck up by every pool. ...
... near the end of my session a couple got in who insisted on breast-stroking v.v. slowly SIDE BY SIDE up and down and finished each length with a snogging session by the wall which blocked the whole wall making any push-off impossible. Tried to sprint as fast as i could towards them at the end of each length, splashing like a drunken octopus but nothing was putting them off. It was all very romantic though!!

I was trawling through this Forum looking for any advice on decent goggles when I found this post Tears in my eyes from the laughter !!

hunnymonster

MCOS wrote: »

I was trawling through this Forum looking for any advice on decent goggles when I found this post Tears in my eyes from the laughter !!

no the tears in your eyes are because your goggles don't fit properly

MCOS

Comedian!