What is it about men ? ( in swimming pools)

I share the dislike of swimming fast next to the wall - it's like being in a narrower lane.
Fast lane in the middle and slow lane at the wall is ideal.
Not something individual swimmers can negotiate among themselves.

To add to the other posts - the worst male swimmers I come across are at my local David Lloyd pool.

The latest offender was a man swimming in a snorkel looking straight down swimming bang in the middle of the lane who did literally plough into me (he was wearing fins so at speed too). When we surfaced to check for injuries he did apologise but said “I couldn’t see you as I don’t need to turn my head using the snorkel”. I did point out that swimming bang in the middle of the lane was not helpful and he did concede I had a point…

I’ve never experienced any of that with men in particular in any pool I’ve visited. And regularly visited pools in the three different counties I’ve lived over 20 years. Regardless – just because men can swim faster, it doesn’t mean they do. I’ve comfortably swam with men in slow lanes for years with no problems. My DH also prefers the slow lane as he isn’t a confident swimmer.

Women-only sessions are common. Women-only lanes are not. The pool staff should be sorting out the sign posting the lane speeds and the guards on duty should be attending to swimmers not using the lanes appropriately.

Yes, of course.
I just mean we shouldn't be jumping to assume who is right or wrong.

Attention seeking!!

Eh?
Men and women can both be fast swimmers, slow swimmers, or splashy swimmers. I often overtook male swimmers and female swimmers, and was also overtaken by both at other times.

I had the I don't want to swim next to the wall comment from a man when I got into a lane where two people swimming up and down and I asked him if he'd going round in circles so I could join the lane, I've never heard that before from anybody, basically he just refused and carried on swimming up and down. There were no signs on the lanes around direction or speed and when I brought it up to the staff about having clear signs (afterwards, not lifeguarded), they didn't really seem to care, so now I just don't go at that time of the morning as I felt quite intimidated, and he gets to swim how he wants to.

There are no speed markers or gender restrictions so he was perfectly entitled to chose any lane he wanted...

The other really annoying thing is the two women who are there sometimes when I go - who are walking. One in the slow lane and one in the fast lane. Why not do that in the other half of the pool FFS?!

Same here - also a DLL member.

And also same here with men splashing! Why do they do that?!

I understand OP but I think next time just focus on the simple fact that he was in the wrong lane for his speed. As soon as you brought sex into the conversation you would have lost him (and many posters here).

as a fairly compentent lane swimmer for some 25+ years I now move lanes to get away from agressive men or even leave the pool. Sounds extreme I know but I think there are a few posters here who will understand. I even considered joining the [Muslim] women’s swim session at the council pool but it was aimed at beginners so I would have been too fast.

Male aggression towards female lane swimmers is well documented and a quick google will show many newspaper articles and X threads (and also on mumsnet IIRC) about some pretty horrible incidents.

Perhaps op should have been in the mixed lane

Women are more considerate in the pool.

😂You've clearly never come across the women that walk, not swim up and down lanes, regardless of the posted speed. Or the ones that do one length and then stop for a chat with their best mate in the lane beside them, thereby stopping two lanes of movement. Or the ones refuse to understand the difference between clockwise and anticlockwise swimming in wide lanes, despite the signs. Etc. etc.

You don’t have the right to insist he moves, but I get why you felt that way, it would have bugged me too.
Last time I went swimming it was just fast and slow lanes, I’m usually medium and in slow there was a guy who was as hairy as an ape, wearing a long t shirt and leggings, plus gold chains. It was like swimming alongside a gangsta sloth. Really off putting.

Were you swimming chatting? Women always seem to that at my local pool. The whole leisurely swim with other women gives chatting vibes. It is the most annoying thing ever.

Sounds like he was trying to manspread you out of the lane.

You want to swim with just women? Find a pool with women only sessions...

YABU to try and make it an argument about sex when if anything it was about speed. And some people don't like having the side next to them, smacking your hand into that hurts more than the rope!

Men are horrible in a swimming pool, they hate it if you are too slow, but the anger they have when you are faster than then is shocking. I used to be a good swimmer and gave up swimming in public pools because of the bullying men, actually trying to ram into me and claw me on occasions because I swam at my pace which was quicker than them.

I don't swim any longer but if I did it would be women only sessions (if they still do these)

He should have been in the lane appropriate to his speed. I've never seen a lane swimming session with lanes allocated by sex. That would be weird.

Unlikely, the flounce / entitled eye roll vibes are strong imo.

It's why I stopped going to the public baths tbh.

There was always, every single time, guaranteed, a man being a cunt.
Swimming as fast as they can in the public swim area, refusing to use a lane because his arms might hit the rope, splashing furiously to try and go faster, doing widths when everyone else was doing lengths.

Several times I've wanted to drop a industrial size toaster into the pool... But that'd make me happy evil.

The argument should be based on speed, not sex. I am an ex-competitive swimmer (albeit much, much less fit than I was in those days!) and I am often faster than most of the men in the pool. Agree with PPs that your pool needs speed indications on the lanes. I used to swim in a pool that didn't have them, which caused no end of arguments. It's much easier when people are given an indication, because it's often hard to judge how fast other swimmers are going when you're watching them from the side.

At the David Lloyd pool I use, there’s no such thing as men/women lanes, only fast/slow.
The main issue with men, as far as I’ve seen, is the incredibly noisy splashing they all seem to make when doing front crawl! Whereas a woman doing an equally fast and competent front crawl will almost always do it relatively quietly.
Always seems like a case of showing off/attention seeking.

The lanes at my pool are divided on speed. I thought it was normal.