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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

Lane-swimming etiquette (grrrrr)

139 replies

RevoltingPeasant · 27/01/2011 14:00

Last night I was swimming in the lanes section of my local pool, and after I'd been going about 25 minutes these two blokes got in and lurked around end section for a bit. Just as I was approaching the end of the lane, they both pushed off right in front of me and started doing slow breaststroke, thus totally cutting me up and meaning I had to speed up massively to overtake or stop.

AIBU to think that this is really rude, and that getting into a swimming lane is like being at a roundabout - if someone is already going round at a decent pace, you wait till after they've gone so you don't make them swerve? If you know you're not a fast swimmer, shouldn't you wait if you see someone 5m away doing crawl at a reasonable pace?

OP posts:

bruffin · 27/01/2011 16:18

I go to a regular advance swimming lesson which has had the same people in it for years. We had a man join us for 1 term and he was so annoying. It was up on the right and back on the left which he always ignored and if he came up from behind us he would swim underneath us. He wasn't a particularly good swimmer either and would have better off slowing down and concentrating on his stroke.

LyingWitchInTheWardrobe2726 · 27/01/2011 16:21

Pacinofan... mine's a private gym. I'm too busty to feel comfortable in a public pool.

nannyl · 27/01/2011 16:24

YANBU

i always swim in the fast lane... and unless there are some seriosuly seriously fast swimmers im always the fastest.

where i swim there are slow, medium and fast lanes and it really irritates me when so many medium (or even slow) people decide to swim in this lane.... even more so when i overtake them, and the they wait at the end getting their breath back (I dont EVER pause for a moment to get my breath back... i manage 70 - 100 lengths without pausing and could do anotehr 100+ without pausing if i needed to) and they pause, and then push off in front of me again so i have to overtake them again.

once you have a few slow / medium people in the lane you cant just over take as the other slow ones are coming at you...

my answer is to overtake anyway and swim at the other slow people (though i wont swim at the other fast people)... normally after not too long the people who arnt fast move out of the fast lane but

nannyl · 27/01/2011 16:26

oh yes and when people just loiter at the end, i still make a point of swimming right to end and push off from the end etc

im swimming my lengths (not nearly to the end) and if i dont do a meter or so of each length my timings are out

reluctanthomosapien · 27/01/2011 17:11

I remember swimming once as a student during a lane swimming session. This woman kept swimming into me at the end of each length. I was very meek and mild in those days, but she was really winding me up and I decided, next time, I'm going to shout at her. "are you blind or what?!" Luckily for me, before I got the chance, a guy patted me on the shoulder and said, "just watch out for that lady, she's blind, you know".

halfcaff · 27/01/2011 17:27

Changing room etiquette that gets me. 'Please use the lockers and do not leave items in the cubicles'. Yes PLEASE do. Or I might take my shivering ds in there and drip all over your stuff when we can't find a free one!

JamieLeeCurtis · 27/01/2011 17:46

I think some of you are being unfair to Slow swimmers. Where else are we meant to go, if not the Slow Lane (that's as long as we are not chatting or flapping about like one lady I saw).

And less of the ageism, please pascoe. You'll be old one day

DoubleDegreeStudent · 27/01/2011 17:50

I had a membership at a private gym on the Strand in my first year of university - the pool was tiny but I went during working hours so was normally the only person in there so took the middle lane - it was always the highlight of my day if a muscular man in tiny "I'm a really good swimmer" trunks got into the fast lane. the word "fast" does not make you a better swimmer. It just makes me smirk.

That gym had steamer loungers by the pool though. The sort of things you get by pools on holiday. Nice wooden ones, but underground in central London? Women used to come in, fully made up, in tiny bikinis, with magazines and then doze on them then get up and go and get dressed again...

The year after I was at the local council pool. Great pool, but made the mistake of trying a women's only session when I was feeling a bit tummy-ish. Apparently "women only" is code for "pregnant people"? I got out sharpish before someone asked me how far gone I was to avoid the embarrassment of never being able to go back until they had all had their babies...

It also annoys the "men are faster than women" group when I used my underwater MP3 player - I always get a "a gadget I don't have?!" jealous glare

Pixel · 27/01/2011 17:53

I wish our pool had a medium lane as I can't swim fast enough for the fast one (can't do crawl) but the slow one drives me mad as I have to keep waiting for people who are hardly moving at all.

Why is it always men who can't swim without making a big show with lots of splashing? They always cause a big wave when they charge past and if anyone is in the way then tough. Their arrogance drives me mad.

I must admit though, that I'm one of those swimming with my head out of the water. It's got nothing to do with my hair and make-up, just that I'm too scared to put my face in the water. I can still do 30 lengths in 30 mins which I think is quite respectable for someone who can't swim 'properly' and doesn't go very often.

MamaMary · 27/01/2011 17:53

Gosh. Confused by all this talk of 'fast' and 'slow' lanes. Our pool doesn't seem to have them.

I'm used to getting a lane to myself.

I get annoyed when I have to swerve the odd time when the pool gets a bit busy. Didn't realise I'm actually quite lucky, from the sounds of things.

yummytummy · 27/01/2011 17:54

yanbu! i hate this too, esp the thing with slow swimmers in the fast lane who look really shocked when you overtake them! thats why its the fast lane and the slow lane is the slow lane. am totally with you.

and ditto for the pairs of chatty women going down the pool, if you want to chat have a coffee the swimming pool is for SWIMMING! and if you are doing that stupid head above the water pseudo breaststroke then that is NOT swimming, real swimming, guess what your hair needs to be wet!! aaarrgh

and breathe.

it really is aggravating when you just want a good lane swim.

reluctanthomosapien · 27/01/2011 17:57

at Doubledegree's underwater MP3. Anything you can recommend?

Pixel · 27/01/2011 18:11

"and if you are doing that stupid head above the water pseudo breaststroke then that is NOT swimming, real swimming,"

Well lucky you, being so confident and all. Glad to know I look stupid. I thought I'd done really well conquering my fear well enough to get out of my depth and swim lengths.

And actually I don't get in other 'proper' swimmers way. It would be nice if they showed me the same respect by not half-drowning me as they speed past or leaping into the water with a huge belly flop as I approach. I've paid the same entry fee as them even if I haven't trained to olympic standard.

DoubleDegreeStudent · 27/01/2011 18:28

reluctant I love it - it's a Speedo Aquabeat and clips onto a pair of goggles. I've lost my charger for it at the moment (it's somewhere in Lancashire, and I am in Paris...) and I've only realised now I've stopped using it how much of a difference it makes! I think it was about £70 two or three years ago and it was pretty much the only thing around so there might be cheaper ones now?

I borrowed some water aerobics cds from my old swimming teacher and mixed the higher bpm tracks in with normal songs to speed me up every so often.

(another good tip she gave me - if you wear a swimming hat then wash your hair BEFORE you swim, load it up with conditioner and then hat on top - the heat you generate swimming makes it act as an intensive treatment. then just wash as normal at the end)

msbossy · 27/01/2011 18:32

YANBU but some of YABU for having such a rant at slow swimmers. I'm a fast swimmer but embarrassingly slow at running and would hate to think people sneered at my attempts.

However, back to pool rage. I use a gym pool (rarely as it's so flipping cold) and nobody seems to get the clockwise or anticlockwise thing and just swims up and down their side of a lane. It means no more than 10 people can use the pool at any one time

camdancer · 27/01/2011 18:47

No ranting at slow swimmers from me at all. I have to do some extremely slow lengths to strengthen my ankle. If you are in the slow lane then imo you can go as slowly as you like - as long as you are actually swimming and not chatting. Faster swimmers should absolutely have consideration by overtaking politely, cutting their length short to overtake or just plain waiting.

But stay out of the faster lanes. It is the slow swimmers in the fast lane that really bug me. If you are in the medium or fast lanes and you are being overtaken by everyone else in the lane please move to a slower lane.

If everyone just had a bit of awareness of the others in the lane it would be so much better for everyone. It seems sensible to me that when you get in, just take a few seconds to see who else is in the lane and what sort of speed they are doing. Then try to find a sensible place to fit in without annoying everyone else.

tyler80 · 27/01/2011 18:49

Please don't put conditioner on your hair and then put a swimming cap on without rinsing.

Yes, it might be much better for your hair, but far worse for everyone who has to share a pool with you.

cumbria81 · 27/01/2011 18:50

I love swimming but it can be totally ruined by the following things:

Slow people who swim too far in the middle so you can't overtake
People who stand and chat at the end of the lane
when the swimming pool decides it won't have a lane and you have to weave around loads of kids.
People doing backstroke who, to misquote Stevie Smith, are not waving but drowning and should probably just go the whole hog.

reluctanthomosapien · 27/01/2011 19:00

It's not slow swimmers per se, it's swimmers who are clearly not fast or medium paced who swim in these lanes regardless and force everyone else to repeatedly overtake or paddle behind them. They then will not wait before their next length to let the faster swimmer behind them pass, but just carry on regardless. It's rude. And it can be dangerous, because it forces the fast swimmers into the middle of, what is often, a very narrow lane, leading to clashing heads and the like.

Part of the problem is pool managers and useless lifeguards, who don't police the situation, or schedule crap like aqua aerobics during peak swimming hours, reducing the swimming space for the majority.

Doubledegree, I'm going to add one of those to my birthday list! And thanks for the hairwashing tip.....lthough I'm wondering if this might end up in a trail of bubbles??

fluffywhitekittens · 27/01/2011 19:00

I don't have any problem with slow swimmers as long as they stay in the slow lane when there are lanes and if there aren't lanes then I wouldn't just swim over them!
I also find that it generally seems to be men who have a problem with the fact that a female could possibly be faster than them, I like to do a bit of butterfly past them as they are thrashing about doing some manly version of crawl.
I also don't have a problem with a bit of a chat at the end of the lane as long as you move out of the way of swimmers trying to swim. I find a few well placed tumble turn sorts them out fairly quickly.
Also agree about the inability to follow clockwise/anti clockwise directions. So I just swim the way indicated.
Not that I've been swimming in a long time but really do need to try and get started again.
I'd also recommend trying a masters swimming club if you have a good one near you.

reluctanthomosapien · 27/01/2011 19:01

xpost, absolutely, Camdancer

MadameCastafiore · 27/01/2011 19:05

My major piss off is women swimming without getting their hair wet - to me that is not swimming - there is even one lady who does back stroke with her head at an odd angle as not to get her hair wet.

And if you are properly swimming why the fect wear a bikini, everything pops out and you look like a tit literally - these are foten the ones that stroll around the chaning room totally naked afterwards - bending over and showing us all what they had for lunch!

I am one of the people who will continue swimming uo behind you, overtaking or making you uncomfortable f you are in my way so IMHO you are being totally reasonable!

RIZZ0 · 27/01/2011 19:53

I'm a regular swimmer and my bugbear is the dirty sods who get straight in without showering, or worse, get out to go to the poolside toilet cubicle and hen come straight back in the pool!!

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fairtradefloozy · 27/01/2011 20:27

YA Definately NBU ... at last a thread for me and my pet peeve. I hate the complete lack of pool ettiquette.

What winds me up is friends chatting to each other as they swim - do you cut them in the middle? swim round? slow down?

And what of the folks that seem to forget the big about swimming and just lurk at the end of the lane yacking, and then get out again. Why are they there, interrupting my splashing getting in the way. Grr.

That feels better!

hoovercraft · 27/01/2011 20:32

Im a slow swimmer but I do about 2 miles at a time so Im not arsed who passes me

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