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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

I was complained by two ladies in swimming pool

252 replies

user1472754004 · 13/06/2019 16:46

I am a regular swimmer. Got complained by two ladies who swim slowly and chatting side by side. The pool was busy and I had to occasionally swim between them. They asked the staff to talk to me saying they were there before me and I should move over in stead swim in between them. It was only a 20 meter public swim but they two occupied about two lane and swim very slowly. Be frank, I hate people swim and chat. When I swim freestyle I try to look but there might be one or two seconds that I was close to them but they have their heads up, insist swim side by side. I ask the staff, should he talk to them not blocking the whole two lanes? Annoyed! I probably need to get up at six to do the lane swim instead.

OP posts:
Bellewhitehorses · 14/06/2019 17:33

I know what you mean op it drives me crazy too

TheClitterati · 14/06/2019 17:42

I was thinking of this thread whilst swimming this morning.

OP I think if you want to seriously swim lengths you really do need to do it in proper marked out lanes. I had to join a gym to do this as I can't swim at our local pool (as it is closed for school only use at the times I could go swimming) - so I joined gym to access proper laned pool for lengths. Half of the pool is in lanes, the other half is free roaming :)

TheClitterati · 14/06/2019 17:44

your pool should put some proper lanes in

nuxe1984 · 14/06/2019 17:47

Bluerussian .... nothing like being prejudiced but trying to cover it up with what you think is an innocuous comment!

Jogonandshutup · 14/06/2019 17:48

It’s the same as when cyclists ride side by side - so fkn annoying!

Fishfingersandwichplease · 14/06/2019 17:52

OP it winds me up too when people swim and chat - l stopped going on a Tuesday morning cos there are 4 ladies who do just that. Not fair on people who want to swim properly and our local pool does have lane swimming but l am too slow for the fast lane and too quick for the slow lane. I don't think YABU at all.

Cantona10 · 14/06/2019 18:00

Totally agree with"User....". Interestingly, I have only ever seen women engage in this "swim and chat" practice. Never men! Why is this? any explanations out there?

BackforGood · 14/06/2019 18:00

The OP has been very clear it was not a lane swimming session. The fact there are black tiles in lines at the bottom of the pool does not, in a public swim session mean you can only go up and down. All pools have specific times for lane swimming, when the lanes are roped off. Many pools have sessions where there are 2 lanes plus 1/2 the pool free. The OP was swimming at a time there were no lanes.
You are allowed to pound up and down doing lengths in a non-lane session of course, but the onus is on you to look where you are going and swim round slower swimmers or non-swimmers. Generally, people who are there to swim many lengths, are the more capable swimmers so therefore should be able to avoid the potterers, who absolutely not only have the right to be there, but should be encouraged and made to feel welcome.
OP you were rude and inconsiderate. Your diagram and later post confirm this.

MrsZola · 14/06/2019 18:00

I get swimming lane rage too. I swim a bit too fast for the slow lane (but do adjust my speed- it's the widest lane, so plenty of room to overtake) but too slow for the medium speed lane. I go to the fittness lane swim session, which to me means you get in and swim. There are people who hang around in the shallow end in a big group chatting, not swimming. Then they swim side by side chatting!!!! I've taken to going an hour earlier just to avoid them. Why they don't go to the casual lane swim is beyond me.
The other thing is the people who swim in the slow lane massively faster than anyone else and plough up and down the overtaking space making it really hard to overtake! Swim ina faster lane ffs!
Rant over 😁

mrsmuddlepies · 14/06/2019 18:03

I was shouted at by a man who was guarding a lane for his wife. She was doing a leisurely backstroke up and down. She was the only swimmer in the lane. The staff immediately made it clear to him that she couldn't have the lane to herself. I could hear him shouting that they had been here first.
The staff were supportive towards me but it was still upsetting. I have never seen either of the complainers since.

youkiddingme · 14/06/2019 18:04

I don't see anyone actually did anything that warrants a complaint. The chatty women had every right to be having a relaxed conversation in the pool. But if they were taking up so much room that there was room to swim between them without contact then as long as you didn't try to swim into them or or soak them so what? It could be construed as a little rude but no more so than them not moving over a bit if the pool was busy.
I think the attendant just did what was easiest.

SnuggyBuggy · 14/06/2019 18:04

Has anyone suggested reporting the unattended baby to SS yet? Grin

veryverytiredmummy · 14/06/2019 18:06

Absolutely YWNBU. If there's room to go through the middle they were taking up space of 3 people. I often find those who engage in this behaviour also locate themselves near enough to the side to take a 4th person's space too. It drives me mad. If you want to chat, do it at an end and then swim courtesly. If you're slower keep an eye open and move into single file if there's someone using the pool to swim rather than socialising.

Stealthfart · 14/06/2019 18:23

I was having this conversation with friends today, poor pool etiquette cancels out any stress relief the swimming would have had. I went to a ladies only swim the other day: never again. 90% were there to chat and get in the way. I’ll bet they went home to their significant others and reported a good swim when they hardly managed 2 lengths. Why not just sit in the cafe? You don’t need to shave your legs for that.

1forAll74 · 14/06/2019 18:24

Yes,perhaps get there earlier,then you won't get annoyed by the slowies, I don't swim,,so this has made me laugh really !

TigerTooth · 14/06/2019 18:28

Find a pool with fast lanes - casual chatty swimmers go in the slow lane.

TigerTooth · 14/06/2019 18:30

BTW - I have just discovered open swimming - I’m even thinking wetsuit to continue in the winter - it’s bloody amazing.

Shitsandgigglez · 14/06/2019 18:33

@Bluerussian get over yourself

Erinaz · 14/06/2019 18:37

Your not in the Olympics not everyone is fast im sure they could of made another lane most pools have slow medium fast instead you probably swam past them a few times like a angry killer whale.

SynchroSwimmer · 14/06/2019 18:37

I am so with you 😊

I think this is when you need to practice your strong, dynamic (super-splashy) leg flutter kick “you are needing to build up your muscle tone” or similar. You are in training aren’t you?....a few lengths of strong arm moves, then the legs....

Do we need a diagram? (joke)

If I was nearby I would join you.

jellyjellabi · 14/06/2019 18:55

Totally shocked by the veiled racism on this thread. Thankfully not everyone’s as ignorant.
Op you are a better person than me as I would have left the thread a long time ago with some of the comments you have received.
I totally appreciate your frustration with these two women as I also come across people like this in my local pool and think that whether it’s lane swimming or not they should appreciate that people are there for different reasons and swimming but a little closer together would have been courteous

Mmdck · 14/06/2019 19:01

Have any of the swimming Nazis who are enraged at anybody who doesn’t swim, got any consideration for young families where the children are unable to swim? What do you suggest? I doggy-paddle with my 13 month old and 3 year old on my back just so I don’t get in your way during a PUBLIC swim? Sod off!! Public swims are also for kids and families to splash about and wait for it...have fun! Heaven forbid!

Ilfie · 14/06/2019 19:14

Suspect you’re probably a speed merchant show off, see several!

Lillyringlet · 14/06/2019 19:29

So the two chatter box ladies can "Lane swim" but op can't?

I'm utterly confused to why people are saying op is rude... If there was enough space to swim between them, they were rude in their assumptions that they owned that bit of the pool being their first.

With how you have said English isn't your first language, and the description of them, I wouldn't be surprised that their complaint is tainted in racism. I have seen this before. People who have been complained about doing innocent things that everyone else is, yet being the only person told off.

Ellyess · 14/06/2019 19:31

user1472754004 YANBU! I don't get to the pool now - won't bore with the reasons - but was a regular. I too swim. Swim, not natter and get in everyone's way.
I can't stand those people who creep along talking to each other, or all those men who, rolling from side to side, take up several lanes so you don't know which side to go round them. If I swim, I swim. Anything else bores me to tears. OK I am fairly fast, nothing clever though, but just what I call normal swimming.

The swimming pool is for swimming in! Not for people to dither about gossiping in getting in other swimmers' way!

The staff should have moved the gossipy women to one side and told them not to get in the way of real swimmers!