To create my own lane

The signs are the end of each lane should give you idea that’s where the lanes are and people should be swimming. Come on your not that daft

Because you have to stop before the actual end to avoid crashing in to the chit chatters. Lots of people turn at the wall and use it to push off and keeps the flow up - rather than slowing down before you should have to. Stopping, standing up, turning around. It disrupts the flow of the swim

Another 1 to
a) recommend prescription goggles -you can get them cheap on ebay etc, they don't have to be exactly right down to the 0.25 of your prescription as long as you can see
B) say I can't work out what on earth was going on by your description
If there was a clearly designated middle lane marked out by ropes that didn't have a sign and nobody was using of course you were fine to use it, it would have been wierder to leave it empty while everyone crowded into the other 2 lanes (unless it was reserved for kids lessons or the general swim area for people not wanting to swim lengths).

If there weren't any ropes at all that's the pools fault. And yes I suppose it might have been weird for you to just swim in the middle but tbh I've never seen a length swimming session set out without ropes so can't imagine it

I'm intrigued by people whose pools actually have set speeds for each lane -have never seen that either. Seems a bit prescriptive - what if a session is full of either very slow or very fast swimmers - it would mean 1 lane not being used and the others being chock a block!

All the pools I've been its basically been a case of the first few people in decide themselves whether they are fast/slow/medium and go in those lanes, new joiners tend to eyeball their rough speeds and then join in accordingly -i.e. if they are usually quite fast but there are several members of the local swimming team bombing up and down they'd downgrade themselves to medium, however if the session is full of people chatting while swimming with head up to keep their hair dry they'd move over to the fastest lane.

So basically choose your lane based on your speed comparative to your fellow swimmers (and be prepared to swap if this changes half way through). Of course this does mean people need a realistic view of their own speed which isn't always the case...

@FussyPud I learn to swim as an adult - had a set of beginners lessons and then intermediate. Teachers were very good and it really did help me develop my front crawl technique. Of course I practiced loads too.

...or get prescription goggles so you can put your face in the water.

Proper breaststroke is fine, amateur less so. I am the latter, however have a very decent Front Crawl so mostly do that when it's busy.

Just wear your glasses, I always do.

Ok dear.

You don't seem to understand that different speeds might all still be 'fast'.
You don't move into a lane of clearly slower people just because someone else's fast is slightly faster than your fast! Cooperation is key.

I hate my prescription goggles. I use daily contact lenses which I remove after swimming (I only wear them to swim)

Breaststrokers are the most anti-social types I encounter in pool: I got kicked, scratched and slapped by them 3x in a recent session: 2 of those from the adjacent (medium) lane, 3rd kicker I was trying to overtake in fast lane. Our fast lane is wide enough that overtaking should be possible both ways in the fast lane, but all you need is on wide breaststroker in there well out from the wall, and the overtaking space gets very narrow.

I swim slow as hell, as I’ve never been taught properly. I usually stick to non-lane sessions, and get my 32 lengths in as best I can. I do quite like the session at one local pool where there are two lanes, and then the free-for-all section for those of us who just plough up and down slowly. I’m on the waiting list for adult swimming lessons, so hopefully my skills will improve soon.

My pet peeve is people swimming in groups, and being offended if they have to part because there’s not enough room in a municipal pool for all three of them to do a leisurely length while hammering out the summer childcare coop details. (This was yesterday. It got so bad I gave up after 24 lengths.)

It’s never been a problem at my pool.

…I’m now imagining pools where there are signs saying ‘No talking’ and a stern life guard beats you with a pool noodle if you stop and shushes you with an angry glare if you dare to speak or make eye contact with another swimmer.

I am very pleasant. Thanks for noticing. 😂
Yes, I’m aware I don’t own a lane. If I did the problem of idiots going in the wrong lane wouldn’t exist would it?
The point is, they AREN’T in a lane appropriate for their speed, and therefore, they are not cooperating. If I start in the fast lane and someone gets in who is much much faster than me I’ll move down a lane. If I start in the medium lane and someone gets in who is much much slower than me then they’re in the wrong lane. If they don’t figure it out after being lapped for the 5th time I get to a point where I simply don’t give a shit about ploughing through them if they’re still choosing to obstruct me.

Fast Lane - Swim 25 meters in less than 30 seconds
Medium Lane - Swim 25 meters in less than 45 seconds
Slow Lane - no limit specifed

Every pool I go to (all over England & abroad) with Lanes states those rules... and they never apply (!!). Real speeds & rules are :

Slow: any speed, stop in middle & pick your nose if you like, nobody is disciplined, go in random directions, whatever; piss off the "serious" slow swimmers

Medium: NEVER overtake in the middle, do not splash, very slow front crawl maybe. Actual speeds 40-90 seconds a length

Fast: Keep moving unless you're standing to gas for ages in the shallow end, 25m lengths in < 50 seconds, any stroke, overtake anywhere, splash as you like

I keep reading OP's posts but can't understand what she said. I never encounter the mythical antisocial male swimmers that every other MNer gets drowned by, I understood that part

I am also blind as a bat when swimming.

Making your own lane is a serious no-no

Take your glasses in and put them on the side of the lane with your float/waterbottle/flip flops. Then you can see the signs.

Prescription goggles are about 20-30 pounds and are helpful.

Personally I do wild swimming these days because I hate pools so much and they are so crowded.

www.swimming.org/openwater/open-water-swimming-venues/

I'll be singing that all day now....cheers!
Honestly though, not being able to see and causing confusion by swimming where you like during lanes isn't really 'fine'.

I think this is fine as long as you're singing "You can make your own lane" to the tune of Fleetwood Mac in your head as you do it.

Basic rule is that chatting for any length of time is frowned upon in lanes, especially when it's busy.

YABU to start this thread without a diagram.

You can get off the peg prescription goggles that don't cost the earth. I'm a minus 11 prescription, but bought minus 8 speedo goggles for £20, which are enough to let me read the signs.

You sound pleasant (yes, that's sarcasm).
You are aware that you don't own the lane, right?
Cooperation is key.
Nobody has more right than another to be there provided they are in a lane appropriate for their speed.

The most effective use of lanes is what the pool I used before I moved had. There were three lanes and someone actively managed them and asked people to move. Which lane you were in depended on the speed of others swimmingthat day. I normally used the slow but was occassionally asked to move to the middle lane.