A man broke my arm yesterday

[garlictwist]

To be fair, accidentally. He collided with me in the swimming pool as he seemed incapable of swimming in a straight line. My arm is broken. I'm meant to be going on a kayakjing holiday this week which I'm having to cancel. I feel really sad as I've had such a tough year and it's been one thing after another. I'm in pain and pissed off. I'm just glad it was my arm and not my lower body as that would be worse.

See a lawyer. At work, they have greater responsibility as does this idiot.

"....Would suggest you get a bone density check! ...."

yes, exactly !

( Also known as a DEXA scan )

Not a chance she could sue her employer or her colleague on the basis of her version of events!

You poor thing, hope your better soon, I think anyone would be down in the dumps in these circumstances.

I loathe sharing a lane with men, they tend to swim in the middle of the lane without regard to those coming the other way. I’ve asked a few if they were aware , I’m met with shrugs, abusive language or ignored. I generally don’t bother anymore and slip down a lane instead.

The same men usually can’t take that I’m faster than them. I’m all for segregated lanes

I don’t think the title is misleading, he did break it just not on purpose. I’m struggling to imagine it, did he hit your arm with his arm or did you become tangled? How did he react?

Someone injured me during their first session at a sports lesson, she just stood looking like this > 😧. I was out of action for a long time but I heard from others that she never went back for a second session 🙈

Does your colleague know he broke your arm?

Ugh this is why women need single sex spaces. This couldn’t have happened in a women-only swim session.

Course it could, I'm not a great swimmer and tend to wander. I do the breast stroke (not well) and think that one arm is stronger so tends to push me off straight. If the pool isn't marked off like they do in competition then it's easy to go off course.

Big fat liar, but you wouldn’t be in the faster lanes, impacts aren’t as strong at slower speeds. Think OP is talking about lane swimming

Cripes was he wearing crochet trunks?

He collided with me in the swimming pool as he seemed incapable of swimming in a straight line

Manspreading in swimming pools is as prevalent as manspreading everywhere else. Just more physically damaging.

I'd be livid.

But then, I'm so so tired of men taking up ALL the space.

Hope you feel better soon OP.

Yeah but if the lanes are vurtual then even the fastest of swimmers can go off course fairly easily. People do tend to have a dominant or stronger side.

How is the thread title wrong? The OP's arm was broken by a man. He may not have done it intentionally, but he still did it. The man who whacked me in the face giving me a thick lip and rattled teeth probably didn't mean it either (I don't know, he didn't stop to check if I was ok) but he did it.

I hope you're on the mend soon @garlictwist and you get to enjoy your holiday another time.

Yep am short and chunky and in my 50's so to look at me you would think I am a slow swimmer.
I am also an ex county level swimmer and fast as F over short distances, the number of men I have had deliberately block me trying to get past is ridiculous and I have been "accidentally" kicked a few times too.
I now swim at a Triathelete training centre that has the flow pool thing so I am on my own

I very much doubt the average woman has the upper body strength to break another woman’s arm whilst swimming. It’s no coincidence that a man did this. Their upper body strength is much, much higher.

I think you should sue that puppy.

So sorry for you, what a horrible thing to happen. I've been extremely violently kicked in the face, legs and torso by - usually - male swimmers desperate to get past every woman in the lane, on a number of occasions.

I had a major operation last year and was hoping to go swimming to help speed recovery but it just felt so risky, constantly worrying about being kicked or whacked, that I stopped going. All the twisting out of the way was causing too much pain.

The pool that I use has only two speeds of lane, slow or fast. The slow lane is solely the preserve of elderly and beginner swimmers . I'm a strong swimmer and can easily keep pace with most of the swimmers in the fast lane, but it's no fun at all with all the flailing males who seem to think they are training for the Olympics.

It's not a genuine accident though is it? If someone is doing something reckless and an accident happens, just because there was no malice doesn't mean they aren't at least partially culpable. That's why swimming pools have rules, to try and stop this kind of accident from happening.
Has he at least apologised? And was there no lifeguard to tell him to keep in lane?

If you're going to lose money from your holiday you should chase it with the sports centre. In other countries it's mandatory to have personal liability insurance for this sort of thing, but the swimming pool should also be insured. It's a failure of safety policy, the guy probably (or should have signed) to agree to the safety rules therefore he should at least be banned for dangerous behaviour that actually caused injury and loss, and the pool need to review their lifeguard policy. It wasn't just an accident. An accident would have been a bruise from a kick. A broken arm is a serious safety failure. Imagine if you'd been pregnant or he'd hit your head! It could have been fatal

Oh god that sounds so rubbish - wallow away!

Having a holiday to look forward to and then having it snatched away like this is just rubbish.

Did the man apologise?

I've stopped swimming in lanes with men at our pool because they seem to think they own the entire lane and just swim up and down in the middle of the lane, not anti-clockwise. Had a lovely swim last week with another woman where we both checked our speed matched and then we just swam up and down for half an hour in the designated anti-clockwise direction. And when I stopped for a breather at the end of the lane I tucked myself in to the rope and she still checked it was ok to "pass".

If I see a man steaming up and down a lane I move lanes because they just don't seem to give a shit who they bash into. It's not worth getting hurt over some selfish entitled prick who thinks the pool is there just for him.

I'm sorry about your broken arm and cancelled holiday

I broke my arm last year tripping over a step in the pub.

The lighting in the area was poor, so I emailed them a few days later, explaining what had happened. I said yes I was under the influence which no doubt contributed to the accident but they really needed to do something about the lighting. Their response was 'yeah, thanks, can't say any more as it will invalidate our insurance.' I explained again I wasn't bothered about their insurance, it was an accident towards which I'd contributed I just wanted to suggest ways to make the area safer.
'As we've said we are not commenting further. It will invalidate our insurance.'
No 'i'm sorry to hear about the accident sustained at our pub, we hope you make a swift recovery and thanks for suggesting we make the area safer with more lighting' just 'please dont engage with us about it. we don't want to know.'
I wish I had sued now!!!! Needless to say I've not been in that pub again......

The lifeguard should have told him to swim in the correct part of his lane. They would do that where I swim.