Swimming pool etiquette

How are you all getting to swim with only one other person in your lane?! I go at 6am and still count myself lucky if there are only four or five of us in the lane!

My absolute bugbear is people who insist on going in the middle lane when the fast lane is practically empty and then get in everyone’s way overtaking. Just move to the fast one! I can only assume it’s an ego thing.

@MissMogwai I think I could write a book about what I see at the pool. Recently a man turned up wearing his underwear. Not swimming trunks - clearly cotton underwear.

This is one of my pet peeves!

At my pool the slow lane is the biggest and lots of room, but still have the odd person who obviously can't swim well at all in the medium lane.

Extra annoying points if they huff and puff at people overtaking them. Also if they have an equally slow pal and swim in a pair chatting, whilst I plot their demise behind them.

There are worse things that happen in a pool though. I have probably moaned on mn before. My recent favourite things to moan about is the woman who routinely goes into the medium lane and she doesn't swim. She does a very slow walking underwater thing. The type of thing you do if you have an injury.

I like lane splitting and hate to be against the wall but you need to get assertive. If you're not assertive in a swimming pool as a woman you'll just end up being shark bait. If you want to do circuits tell people. If you want the wall, tell them.

Swimming pool etiquette is my biggest bug bear. I swim regularly in a gym pool that has a mix of good swimmers and leisure swimmers. It's not got a life guard and the lanes are narrow. It requires people to be more aware and considerate of their fellow swimmers. Lots of people are, lots of people are selfish twats. If you don't say anything then you end up being pissed off. No one rules the pool no matter how good a swimmer they are or they think they are. Or indeed what sex they are. So if it doesn't suit you and it's not a bother to someone else then just say.

Well I didn't know it was common. The reason I don't like it is because when someone inevitably joins us there is a moment of confusion for the new person. I don't think it's a big deal but I also don't see any big advantage to splitting the lane when there are only two in the land. I was in a lane today with one other person. He was a bit faster than me so I always made sure I didn't get in his way.

I personally think it's a bit selfish when people split the lane because then it makes it impossible for new people entering the pool to just hop in and join a lane.

I prefer to rotate because it's fair. My club is clearly marked.

Someone else asked if we could split the other day and I couldn't be arsed to argue as I was almost finished. She said she was slower than me, she was, and should have been in the slower lane but decided she wanted to me in the faster one.

I find that odd.

You clearly haven't got a complex prescription that changes every few years.

For those who have commented about being short-sighted, did you know you can get prescription swimming goggles? I ordered a pair online a few years ago, about £20. I hadn't been swimming for a while before then as I found it too disconcerting not being able to see properly.

Hot tub hoggers get on my nerves too Went for a swim yesterday afternoon at my gym/health club. There was a man in the hot tub when I entered the pool and he was still there when I got out 45 minutes later.

I have never experienced a session in which there were only two or three swimmers. Almost all sessions are full, and the health and safety instructions prevent inconvenience and injury.

The 'slow' section of the pool, is often populated by elderly swimmers. Some are very vulnerable, and it is great seeing them getting some healthy exercise at a pace they can manage and in a relatively safe environment. People adhere to the swim around in a clockwise direction rule, unless there is a need to overtake.

I tend to keep to the middle lane. It is common to be splashed by people in the fast lane, but normally you can see it coming and turn your head.

There have been occasions when someone has swum up and down the middle lane, and it is annoying. It means no-one can overtake, and that people have to pause on their circuit as the other person reaches the end of their lane.

Like others, I feel that if there there are just two or three people in the pool, then they can work out their own arrangement, but when there are more swimmers than there are lanes, adhere to the rules.

Ruddy heck. Our pool allows up to 12 to book a lane, and the slow lane is the one that may be full. Fast lane is the quietest for us, might only be 2-3.
I live in a place full of old people... but I actually encounter the fewest fast lane swimmers when I go to London.

Ahem… public sessions are vile mostly

you don’t get this shit at club level. That is why during the off season our club tends to meet up at public sessions so those who can’t swim but fancy themselves as ‘fast lane’ swimmers get to work out what fast actually is.

open water swimmers are awesome, club swimmers are great, swimming courses or Swimming holidays are all wonderful because it’s a different level. Public sessions are sadly too often a litany of stupid egos in Speedo’s who can’t possibly be over taken by a woman or those who think a swim needs to have 2 of you chatting up and down, or the worst someone WALKING in the sodding lane.

I say to those who suffer this, swim harder, swim faster and show them they need to switch lanes.

I still swim clockwise (or anticlockwise) in the lane on my own! I can see that splitting if only 2 of you would ease overtaking stress but if you havent negotiated it first then stick to your rotations and force them to go round you when you meet

Our slow lane is twice as big as the other two lanes and we always split it sometimes 3 or 4 ways

Without stating the obvious, have you seen how far the Pacific is from Basildon?
Might be an option for you in your private jet, but it isn’t for everyone

I just don’t really understand hogging one side of the lane when there is a perfectly good system in place

I guess it might be good for some but not for others. If two people agree to it and are both happy, I really don't see any issue with lane splitting. That said, they should be in agreement - as you're not, you just need to say so, and circulate. No dramas!

If someone gets in and starts lane splitting instead of circuiting, I won't see them at all until they are a few strokes away swimming towards me, and I will assume that they are on the other side of the lane from me. I'm sure I'm not the only short-sighted swimmer. The consistency of circuiting is safer.

Goodness! No, you're not the only short sighted swimmer - I'm extremely short sighted myself- but am capable of seeing that there is a shape entering the pool! I'm sorry, that must be very difficult.

Also, you have it the wrong way round... I was discussing going from lane-splitting to circulating with no problems. Nobody sensible would get in and randomly start lane splitting without ensuring the other person is aware!

Why would it cause issues? You see someone get in, and automatically switch to clockwise or anticlockwise! No trouble at all.

I won't see them get in. I won't spot them swimming and recognise that we are in the same lane.

If someone gets in and starts lane splitting instead of circuiting, I won't see them at all until they are a few strokes away swimming towards me, and I will assume that they are on the other side of the lane from me. I'm sure I'm not the only short-sighted swimmer. The consistency of circuiting is safer.

I agree. I love it on the rare occasions I get a lane to myself but it doesn’t happen very often where I live. One of the pools I use is quite small too, so it all feels cramped and then you get people doing what they want and messes it up for everyone. Sometimes you get a man, and it is always a man, trying to do butterfly stroke when the pool is really busy. Everyone gets swamped and you are trying to avoid getting hit by their arms as well. I get lane rage then!

I go lane swimming and we always go round properly, even if there's 2 people.