Lane swimming etiquette

tegerman

My local pool only has two public lanes, a fast lane and a slow lane. I would consider myself to be only an ok swimmer at roughly 1 minute 10 seconds per 50m length and usually use the slow lane. I have noticed that the majority of the time when I go there in the evenings there will be at least one person in the lane barely moving. Most of the time it is an older guy whose arm doesn't get straighter than 90 degrees and who takes at least 4 minutes to do a length. I find this to be pretty ridiculus and have considered asking him to move out of the lane and into the public area. Is this something I should do? The only other option is for me to go into the fast lane and end up slowing down someone else.

Killgore Trout

Its really frustrating but i doubt he knows he's in the way. Ask the lifeguard if they can say something to make this person realise he's not being fair.

The lanes are to keep the leisurely swimmers away form the ones who are trying to train; so there is a safety aspect.

bootybouncer

just politely say ill take this half of the lane and you take the other half of the lane, there is plenty of room in one lane...............................cmon your hardly phelps

tegerman

Killgore Trout wrote: »

Its really frustrating but i doubt he knows he's in the way. Ask the lifeguard if they can say something to make this person realise he's not being fair.

The lanes are to keep the leisurely swimmers away form the ones who are trying to train; so there is a safety aspect.

If he doesn't realise he is inconveniencing others then he is one of the most oblivious people on the planet. He is there most evenings getting in everyones way so I would be surprised if the lifeguards have not noticed him already either.

bootybouncer wrote: »

just politely say ill take this half of the lane and you take the other half of the lane, there is plenty of room in one lane...............................cmon your hardly phelps

Not an option unfortunately. It is a 50m pool and can get quite busy, so there will typically be at least 3 others in the slow lane, meaning we have to go around it in an anticlockwise direction.

promethius

I'd say it to lifeguard, it's not your place to assign people to lanes and he might feel that way too.
If lifeguard doesn't get the point say it's a health and safety issue since you almost banged into him a few times etc
You're right not to move into the fast lane, outside the lanes is the place for this guy who's entitled to his swim but doesn't need to be taking up space in a training lane.

pot p

Is he not entitled to use the slow lane to do his lengths. Can u not speed up and move into the fast lane as ur a far superior swimmer??

JuliusCaesar

Ask them to put in 3 lanes.

Fast, medium, slow.

It's not rocket science, but they do tend to want as many people in the pool as possible, sometimes to everyone's detriment and then they lose customers.

I swam in a place with a guy like this. He was the biggest, splashiest, widest and uncouth swimmer, and in the end - after numerous remarks to him which he ignored, and no action on the part of the pool employees, most of us stopped swimming at the same time as him.

tegerman

JuliusCaesar wrote: »

Ask them to put in 3 lanes.

Fast, medium, slow.

It's not rocket science, but they do tend to want as many people in the pool as possible, sometimes to everyone's detriment and then they lose customers.

I swam in a place with a guy like this. He was the biggest, splashiest, widest and uncouth swimmer, and in the end - after numerous remarks to him which he ignored, and no action on the part of the pool employees, most of us stopped swimming at the same time as him.

Might try it but was there this evening and all other lanes were being used. One lane looked like it was being used by one club, and 3 others were being used by another large club.

My pal was there as well. Timed him and he only takes 3m20s to do a 50m length so not as bad as I thought. Its actually impressive how slow he goes. He lets his feet drag without really moving them and only reaches max 6 inches in front of him with his strokes. Was doing this for at least 45 minutes, even getting in the way of people doing 2 minute lengths.

Between him and kids throwing floats around the lanes I get the feeling the lifeguards there don't give a crap.

spurious

Perhaps he has had a stroke.

Stheno

tegerman wrote: »

Might try it but was there this evening and all other lanes were being used. One lane looked like it was being used by one club, and 3 others were being used by another large club.

My pal was there as well. Timed him and he only takes 3m20s to do a 50m length so not as bad as I thought. Its actually impressive how slow he goes. He lets his feet drag without really moving them and only reaches max 6 inches in front of him with his strokes. Was doing this for at least 45 minutes, even getting in the way of people doing 2 minute lengths.

Between him and kids throwing floats around the lanes I get the feeling the lifeguards there don't give a crap.

Either crash into him repeatedly if you are behind him which is going to cause bad blood, or report him to the lifeguards.

pot p

Well after timing him and observing his inept swimming technique would it not be in everyone's best interests if u shared ur knowledge with him on how poor his technique is and how to better it which might result in him speeding up which would allow you stay in the slow lane

AngryHippie

If the lifeguards are just sitting there staring into space, while there are kids firing kickboards around the place, then talking to them isn't going to do much. mention it to them anyway, give them one session to do something, then speak to the manager directly.

It's not really the old guys fault. If he is in the open swim area, then there are people milling around, kids splashing and throwing stuff etc. If I were you I would up my game to get into the faster lane. He wants to be able to swim uninterrupted, and the slow lane is the correct place to do that, regardless of how slow.

On that note, the last pool I worked in, we had an elderly ex rugby international (Tony O'Reilly Era) who use to swim a 50 in about the same length of time, same deal, feet hanging down, as he had numerous back, hip, knee and ankle problems (walked with a cane) etc.

I'd say have a bit of respect for him, he may not be able to go faster, you can, so go do it, instead of hanging at the end timing him and being judgmental. Or if you struggle with this, try talking to him, and getting to know his story, before deciding that he is just in the way. He's probably someones dad, or grandad, how would you feel if someone was being a d1ck about your old man trying to swim his few laps as best he can ????:mad:

Oldlegs

Why not work your training routine around his 3 min length ?
If you start just ahead of him you should be catching up to him just as he is finishing his 1st length so you can nip in front of him.

Use the time to work on drills (Single Arm, Leg-kick, catch-up, ... loads of vids on you tube) rather than just swimming and that should slow you down a little.

Let him know what your routine is and that you should be turning just behind him so if he wouldn't mind just holding off a few seconds at each turn.

Otherwise, work with the others in the lane and then all pass him every 3rd length so that you are not crashing into each other and also still allowing him to train (at his pace) in the otherwise crowded pool.