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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Swim rage!

102 replies

Pittcuecothecookbook · 10/02/2018 11:46

Two lanes - one fast, one unlabelled. One guy in the unlabelled lane right up behind everyone, overtaking without enough room and generally being an arse. I ask him, not that politely it must be said, to stop swimming so close behind everyone and to go in the fast lane if he can't swim slower.

He says "what do you want me to do if I'm not fast enough for the fast lane" and "you should swim faster". Well, actually, I'm quite fast but I am moderating my speed because I'm not in the fast lane and I don't want to be today. Plus, if it's that fucking easy to swim faster, you do it and go in the fucking fast lane.

I told him he was probably one of those drivers that drive right up the arse of the person in front. He said that in his plane he flies behind the other planes, and he did this stupid aeroplane thing with his hands. So funny, he looked like a right mug.

Anyway, yes I was unreasonable for being sarcastic and rude and for being happy when he made himself look stupid but aibu by MN standards? Please say No 😂

OP posts:
QuiteCleanBandit · 10/02/2018 11:48

Nope yanbu
He would get a warning at my pool.

keepingbees · 10/02/2018 12:20

Sounds like he has ego issues!

corlan · 10/02/2018 12:25

This is why I don't go swimming anymore.
Glad you called him out on it though.

MrsLandingham · 10/02/2018 12:27

YANBU. My mum, who was a strong and regular swimmer, used to get this all the time. She said that some men couldn't stand that a woman was better than they were.

Loveache · 10/02/2018 12:33

I swim a lot. Yes, rage. There's that type of men who think they can plough through everybody, or perhaps don't even bother thinking about it. The entitlement is infuriating. Don't know what to do though.

GertrudeCB · 10/02/2018 12:37

He sounds like a prick, well done for challenging him, wish more people would.

slookiroo · 10/02/2018 12:39

I'm one of those people who is not fast enough for the fast lane but too fast for the other lane/s. I find it very stressful so try to go when the pool is very quiet. I do try to over take or wait until the end of the pool and just turn earlier to get in front of someone. It's fine if everyone is trying to be considerate to each other but at the end of the day if you're swimming for exercise it needs to be at a pace that gets your heart rate up so I wouldn't slow down, but obviously don't think others should speed up either.

misscockerspaniel · 10/02/2018 13:05

I usually swim in the slow lane and we all tend to be polite and sensible. But my patience would run out with someone like that and he would get an accident kick. He would eventually get the message Grin

BarbarianMum · 10/02/2018 13:09

An element of overtaking is generally allowed in lane swimming and generally pools make sure the lanes are wide enough to facilitate this. Also, its usual to come up behind someone before you overtake them. So YANBU to expect considerate swimming but YABU if you expect this never to include over-taking.

loveka · 10/02/2018 13:10

This is why I stopped going swimming.

Cunts.

PumpkinPie2016 · 10/02/2018 13:13

YANBU - my husband is an excellent swimmer and very fast as he's a sprint swimmer.

He wouldn't dream of going in the slower lane and he usually goes when the pool is pretty much empty e.g.6am.

NeverTwerkNaked · 10/02/2018 13:19

Yanbu. He’s an idiot.
I just did a spinning class so fancied a slow lane swim after but had to deal with two idiots who wanted to swim fast in the slow lane because the two faster lanes were busier Hmm

AnnaleeP · 10/02/2018 13:28

That sort of thing is very annoying. It's always men who do this in my experience.

I'm generally too fast for the slow lane and too slow for the fast lane too but what I don't do is rudely overtake in the slow lane!

Well done for challenging him though, he sounds like a dick.

ForalltheSaints · 10/02/2018 13:42

Not unreasonable at all. Probably the kind of man who then wonders why there are so few women there.

Original poster
Pittcuecothecookbook · 10/02/2018 14:19

1 to me then, 0 to the zero. Does tend to be men, I agree.

Also I'm totally cool with sensible overtaking but not when it's busy and there's no room to do it safely. It reeked of "get out MY way". The guy just wanted a lane with his name on, which given he can apparently afford a private jet (!) means he should just have a private pool 😂

OP posts:
user1485342611 · 10/02/2018 14:23

YANBU. If he feels he's not fast enough for the fast lane that doesn't entitle him to take over the other area and make things uncomfortable for everyone else.
And his 'aeroplane' reply just confirms that he's an arse.

ThinkingQueSeraSera · 10/02/2018 16:17

He has a tiny dick. Without doubt.

barefoofdoctor · 10/02/2018 17:07

Sharp toe nails and a strong kick are your friend OP.

5plusMeAndHim · 10/02/2018 17:27

i thought you were supposed to tap the foot of the slow swimmer and then they let you past at the end of the length?

edwinbear · 10/02/2018 17:35

Foot tapping is fine in club swimming, but lots of the general public wouldn't understand it and would most likely be quite disturbed by a random stranger swimming up behind them touching their feet.

OP I've been the faster swimmer in the only available swim lane and it can be a bit irritating, but I try to be as considerate and as least 'showy offy' as I can be.

lljkk · 10/02/2018 17:40

What does "without enough room" mean?
Did he touch your feet a lot?
Did he shove in at the wall when you were there about to turn around?
Did he kick you? Did he crash into anyone?

Original poster
Pittcuecothecookbook · 10/02/2018 17:57

Edwinbear: There was a fast lane though. He told me he wasn't fast enough for it, but that I should swim faster in the unlabelled (aka 'slow') lane for his benefit. I totally get that it's a pain when there are only two lanes but if he didn't or couldn't keep up in the fast lane he shouldn't expect everyone on the unlabelled lane to swim at his exact speed just for him. Double standard.

Lljkk, you sound quite defensive. Anywhere near Canterbury leisure centre at 11am this morning? What do you think "without enough room means"? 😂 What a riddle.

But yes, he did kick and lash out and prevented me from pushing off when he was overtaking someone coming up to the end, as he was swimming in the other half of the lane. He only didn't crash into me and later, another woman as we stopped swimming in our lanes, halfway down the pool when he was overtaking too.

When I left the pool, he had moved into the fast lane so I'm pleased he got a better work out on the end. Good for him!

OP posts:
MatildaTheCat · 10/02/2018 18:02

General Ill manners in the pool gives any right minded paersonnthe red hot rage. Lane huggers who swim straight up and down the middle, fast bastards who barge into you and slow buggers who insist on pushing off just a fraction of a second before you are about to turn.

If everyone swims nicely and takes account of the environment there is plenty of room for everyone. He sounds a prize cock so bad luck.

MatildaTheCat · 10/02/2018 18:04

Oh and people who refuse to stick to the allocated side of the lane so that front crawlers are at risk of head on collision. Same sort of logic as driving the wrong way up the road.

VioletCharlotte · 10/02/2018 18:06

I love swimming but it's people like this that put me off going. Ideally I'd have my own private pool, but failing that, my own lane!

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