Territorial dispute in swimming pool

YANBU. He had no reason at all to go into lane 2 while you were in it.

God I can’t believe how many people are saying it’s perfectly reasonable to swim up to and under someone else in a large swimming pool, which other than the two of you is completely empty. It’s such a dick move and incredibly unpleasant for a man to do this to a lone female. Doesn’t have his glasses on my arse.

If you think this is reasonable I despair for the poor sods who encounter you on a daily basis - parking next to them in an empty carpark, swimming in their already occupied lane in an empty pool, sitting next to them in an otherwise empty train carriage. Get a grip and give people some space!

The nerve!

I have a parking cone. It has been used.

😂😂 I told DD I was going to paint the words "XX's Space" on my favourite spot at our local Dobbies because when I got there last time someone had parked there. Outrageous.

What a knob. It’s honestly always the men who mess about with lane etiquette. There’s always one in the fast lane who’ll never let you pass at the end of a length so you’re nipping at their heels the whole bloody time

Poor guy can’t win! He switches lanes and he’s still in the wrong!

Same, I have a favourite locker, shower and lane and so do other people I swim with, we often joke when other people ‘have the cheek’ to use ‘our’ spaces. OP my lane choice is driven by the direction you swim, I like to swim anticlockwise in the lane so will join a lane with another in it and leave another empty because it’s my preference to swim in that direction. Other people do the same. It may not have been the aggressive move you think.

He swam underneath you lol what a move maybe he was trying to impress you

Yep, territorial. Or just doing it for the sake of it. Either way, assumed he could intimidate you into moving. Swimming under someone is the height of bad manners, just another power move on his part. Glad you stayed put OP.

I'd actually complain to the pool manager about this, the way he swam under you like that is both intimidating and I want to say violating but don't think that's quite the right word. They really should be having a word with him about this intimidating behaviour, he may as well have got his knob out and pissed in lane 2. He needs to be told that if someone else is in the lane and there are empty lanes, then he needs to go to an empty lane, and not to try to intimidate or bully people out of a lane. Prick.

The worst thing about swimming is the other people. He wouldn’t even make my list to be honest which includes slow people in fast lane, fast ones in slow lane, people who “crawl” making the biggest splashes possible, back strokers in any lane, people who walk up and down swim lanes, people who swim two abreast gassing 😩there’s more but i’ll stop now.

OP, you seem a bit annoyed that he's got a favourite swimming lane.

I feel I should confess, I have a favourite parking space in every supermarket, and even a favourite checkout. If I went swimming, I would - without question - have a favourite lane.

I don't find it difficult to believe a man could be a territorial dick - ~gestures around at society - but do you think there's any possibility he didn't notice you at first? You say he seemed surprised - you think he was surprised that you hadn't moved over, but could it have been that he was just surprised to see you? Maybe he thought the lane was empty?

I don't swim regularly now but when I did, I was often in my own world and with eyes hazy from chlorine it's not inconceivable that maybe he didn't notice you or maybe he glanced and thought you were in lane 3 - especially as he seemed happy to shift over to the next lane and not fight you for custody of the hotly desired lane 2.

What an arsehole he is

I go swimming a lot and there is a man who does this I’ve started holding my ground and staying in the lane infuriates me

Thank you for that fascinating insight into the exact minutiae of your exercise routine which has no relevance whatsoever to OPs post, where the man didn't just use lane one because it was the one with the ladder and then two because it was on the way to lane three, the one he wanted to swim in, but swum in both of them for a while then changed to 3 and then back to 2 again.

Bolded for your reference as it doesn't seem that reading comprehension is your strong suit:

"a man got in and started to swim in lane 1. Five minutes after that he changed into my lane."

Your bizarre desperation to excuse weird behaviour is what's ridiculous, not the concept of using a ladder.

I climb in and out of the edge of the pool. I always choose the lane with the least amount of people but never choose the slow or fast lanes.
Never seen anyone swim underneath someone at our pool. I would think it very weird if anyone (man or woman) got into the lane I was swimming in if all the other lanes were empty

Do you swim in each lane before you get into one you want?

Where’s the 😂 emoji when you need it?

Total non-event. Man goes into his favourite lane for swimming, realises there’s someone already in it so moves into another lane, moves back when she’s gone. Let’s all assume he’s some sort of misogynistic prick with zero evidence whatsoever.

Agree. I have never in all my years seen swimming under as the norm.
What you say @EBearhug is exactly what our pool does.

That sounds dangerous and quite childish. I presume you're only doing this is there are just the two of you in the lane?

Backstroke should generally be avoided when it's busy, unless you're a properly trained backstroke swimmer. It just causes chaos. It's fine if it's quieter.

I do back stroke if men try and swim at me in some weird game of swimming pool chicken

Let me explain to you how I get in the pool. I go down the ladder into lane 1. I move across to lane 2 and I inevitably move across to lane 3 (medium, anti clockwise). Why is that ridiculous?? I’m not a diver, I use the steps. How else will I manage that without crossing 3 lanes?

May I mention doing back stroke in the lido as an irritant? The swimmers have to keep so close to the rope to go in a straight line and frequently hit it, so I either have to swerve away in the next lane or risk getting hit.

What you’ve written is nothing like what I said.

I said (quite clearly) if they are at the end of the pool and someone behind is quicker they will stop, duck under, and allow the person to turn and swim off.

I wish people would stop changing what people are saying to say they are wrong. 🙄