To say you don’t swim backstroke when the pool is busy

OP I think general rules apply for casual swim - awareness of those around you and "don't be a dick".

In fact those can be applied to pretty much any situation.

Backstroke when swimming in lanes is ok, as long as you match your speed to others in the slow, medium or fast lanes, but not during busy sessions or lengths during family swim time.

We have a guy at our local pool who is also oblivious, has no idea of personal space and is a total dick in the lane swim. I think he's trying to channel his inner michael phelps, but thrashes around looking like he's drowning. There's always one 🙄

Yanbu, what a stroker

Terrible if he was hitting people and not apologising!
What kind of swimming session was it? Lane swimming or not? I think backstroke is only ok in a lane swimming session when the pool isn't really busy.
I was swimming with my DD on a Saturday afternoon a few weeks ago, pool full of families with inflatables in half of it and one man was determinedly swimming lengths! I couldn't understand why on earth you would go swimming on a Saturday afternoon if you want to do lengths! And I know maybe he worked all week but there are lane swimming sessions early Saturday morning and for the last hour in the evening

Do you mean in a lane, op, or when it's a free for all? I lane swim (amateur, no training) and alternate backstroke and breaststroke, but always space/ pace myself to avoid catching up with others. And I never backstroke in the main swimming area, where there are parents and babies etc.

The thing that annoys me is those who just sort of slowly float in the swimming lanes rather than use the quieter public side of the pool. And people who just stop and talk at the end of the lane for aaaaages, so I have to stop short of a full length.

The lifeguards at my pool are really good at instilling pool etiquette though, so there's very rarely any issues. And most people are very courteous.

Agree OP. I also get really annoyed at the young women doing slow breaststroke because they “can’t” put their face in the water, in the medium speed lane - because they don’t notice the 9 people trying to overtake ? Because they are embarrassed to swim in the slow lane?

People are rude and selfish.

If it's a lane swim there shouldn't be a problem. If it's a recreational swim session then no he shouldn't be doing that.

Lifeguard here. Lifeguard should have done something. Eg told him to move lanes

You’re right. Luckily don’t see it much where I swim. I only ever do backstroke if the lane is completely empty (bar me obviously!) as I always lose concentration at some point and end up on bumping into they ropes on the other side of the lane 😂

I can swim backstroke in a lane with no problems, ex club swimmer. If you are a rec swimmer who can't swim a straight line, follow lane etiquette and speed then no you shouldn't!

Why? You can swim any syorkw you like

YANBU this person sounds like they are incredibly selfish. I swim a couple of times a week in the pool and also try and get a wild swim in at the weekend. For my pool swims I go in the slow lane and stick to front crawl and breaststroke.

Everytime I go to the pool there is always at least 1 older man that decides to dive/belly flop in, do 1 length full pelt then sit at the end of the pool getting his breath back and doing another length at full pelt, which apparently must involve a lot of aggressive splashing and huffing. Drives me mad!!! I have tried going for a swim at different times but work makes that difficult. Also.. don't get me started on male entitlement in the health suite 🤬

Nothing to do with the stroke, and everything to do with the person.
I'd rather swim with a considerate back stroker than the selfish that doing front crawl who just wouldn't let me past - and if I turned half way through a length to "overtake" he would wait at the end, and set off just infront of me again.

I'm the only person I've ever known to swim backstroke at my pool. I wait until the pool is practically empty, with no "obstacles". It would be impossible if I didn't, as well as selfish.

If someone is actually hurting someone you should report it to the duty manager. Sometimes you will collide with someone, it can't always be helped - it used to happen sometimes when I was doing swimming lessons. But it's a one-off rather than all the time. If someone is deliberately taking up a full lane or knocking people "over" in the lane, they need to be reported and have their membership suspended if they don't change their behaviour.

I think breast-stroke takes up more room in a lane.

But I can swim backstroke in a straight line, which I suppose makes a difference - a lot of people can't!

Unfortunately the lifeguards are usually poorly paid teenagers (they won't get full minimum wage because of their ages). You can't expect them to take on entitled customers. As a grown adult, I would say that if you think someone is behaving badly, you can tell them yourself. Easier said than done, I know as you don't know if someone is then going to launch a tirade of c and f words, or thump you.

I was shouted at by a man whose wife was doing backstroke and I was in the same lane. He was watching from the side ( outdoor pool) and told me that I couldn't swim in the same lane as his wife. The Life Guard came over, put him straight and told him to leave. He and his wife assumed that once you had a lane it was exclusively yours until you left. She liked swimming backstroke and so needed a lane for herself. I heard the man tell all this to the Life Guard. Some people and swimmers are unbelievably entitled.

Agree. It is possible to do backstroke in a relatively busy lanes session if you have awareness of your own speed and of the others around you. If you can swim in a straight line then you should only need a few lengths of person ahead (behind).

I changed the times I swim to avoid him, and if he gets in when I'm there I change lanes or leave if it's busy. I've noticed I'm not the only one. It's infuriating.

Has anyone talked to the lifeguards or management?

Sorry in your case YANBU - he is being selfish

Our local pool has 4 lanes in lane sessions - slow, med, fast, and fast crawl. I tend to be in med speed and happily do back stroke there - but there is a divider for the lanes physically in the pool and a line of ventilation tubing running along the ceiling I can stay lined up on.

I almost never do it in an open session as there's too much chance I will hit someone (it is very free range then!).

I'm a (very) amateur swimmer, and if I do backstroke it's only ever if I have a lane to myself, or if the person / people I'm sharing with are swimming after me and I'm swimming away from the end where people enter the pool, so I know there is no one in my path.

There's a very tall man at my local pool that does very exaggerated wide breast stroke, slowly, in the medium speed lane, which takes up the whole lane and means you can't actually get past him at all. Even if you stop and float upright as he goes past he kicks you. Even worse is the 'slow' lane is actually 2 lanes without a dividing rope so plenty of room for him in there.

I changed the times I swim to avoid him, and if he gets in when I'm there I change lanes or leave if it's busy. I've noticed I'm not the only one. It's infuriating.

Butterfly has no place outside competitive or wild swimming IMO. Agree about backstroke too.