What is it about men ? ( in swimming pools)

[Ramblingnamechanger]

Another argument in the pool today. Several lanes available to share…one with 2 guys , ours with 2 women and one mixed. The man who arrived later chose ours. Nearly headed into me at 50 mph. I challenged him and suggested he moved into the lane next door with faster male swimmers. He said that he did not want to swim in the lane with the side of the pool. I said my preference was to swim in peace with other women and why was it that my preference was seen as not as important as his . He insisted that he would stay . I told him it was a macho view and we women should have our views and wishes given the same weight. So fed up that again an entitled male pushed it even when challenged.

I find sharing lanes with a fast swimmer the best option.
I just keep out of their way. They cannot get in my way. Everyone is happier.

Everyone going same speed in a lane means they constantly slow each other day. They get stuck behind each other because no one has the speed to zoom past. This is very annoying.

I'm totally happy to swim with a zooming lane-mate.

Sharing a lane with a breast-stroker can be tough, agreed. I've been scratched & kicked by so many.... often from the lane next to me, they just can't keep in their allocated space.

I was going to write the exact same. Or some men who go all out to overtake me and then slow down in front of me presumably because they've tired themselves out whereas I swim at a steady (and by no means slow) pace for my whole 30-60 minute session.

OP can you request the pool introduce speed lanes for safety. Most pools I have swum at have them, and signs advising people to choose a lane that matches their speed and stroke.

Lots of competitive swimmers use snorkels in training.

Only some men, the ones with horrible personalities & too much circulating Testosterone, due to no one wanting to shag them as they are wankers equals aggressive swimming , cycling , jogging, driving, etc takes the place of “going at it” with the dick.
or so I believe, I could be wrong.

Lots of competitive swimmers use snorkels in training.

But why? What's the purpose of that, @DieStrassensindimmernass

It’s really unusual for the lanes not to be divided by speed, I’ve never come across a swimming pool with lane swimming not divided into fast, medium and slow lanes. However I don’t think lanes should be divided by sexes unless there’s a competition going on. Where I swim there are generally 2 fast lanes, the slower fast lane has mostly women swimming on it, I tend to pick the one with mostly men as it matches my speed. I would be of great nuisance to all the women swimming on the slower fast lane if I picked my lanes solely based on gender. But moving on to your problem OP, it sounds like that guy has no regard whatsoever for the people he swims with. But I don’t think this flaw in his personality is a consequence of him being either male or a swimmer.

I think it is so they can focus more on their stroke technique. All top squad swimmers at the local club had to have one in their kit.

Some swimmers who aren't that great at breathing properly also get lazy and rely on a snorkel instead of learning to breathe properly.

I think some of the men in my pool just like to show off.

I've not looked, but I would expect they're really expensive. prescription sunglasses are bad enough. (unless you go to one of the cheap online sites, but they're a more recent thing)

It’s worth looking into. Decathlon around £20-ish (altho that was approx 6yrs ago). I also have some from a website, which I think were around £40.

Snorkels are used for technique improvement. They allow the swimmer to breathe without too much body movement so keeping more streamlined. Better for pool racing rather than open water which needs a different technique (as well as avoiding getting walloped!)
The average public swimmer does not really need them unless in lessons and I'm surprised fins are also permitted as when not used appropriately, they cause more issues with other people.

It’s a well known training method keeps you in a better position in the water lets you keep your head down so your more stream line
And you can focus more on technique

also some people use them if they have neck problems stops you having to rotate your neck

I’m guessing he was a serious swimmer just minding his own business and doing a proper training session
rather than some who’s gone for a splash round and to watch and criticise people

Necks shouldn't be rotated though, breathing is done when the body rotates through the water as the water is caught . The head should not move independently

This. I can’t see what difference sex makes, But in my experience, it is men who make the biggest splash and end up red faced and breathless at the end of each length. They don’t seem to realise that economy of movement is far more successful and instead, wage war on the water. Fast swimmers, male or female, should be in the fast lane, so we can all enjoy our session.

Yes they should make the end lane wider because of the wall but they don’t seem to consider that. I do breaststroke, reasonably fast, but whether fast or slow you need quite a lot of width for BS, much more than for crawl, and the wall is a real problem.

I haven't read the whole thread , but this jumped out at me;

"It's not a sex issue"
"Of course it is, men swim faster than women"

Not when I'm in the pool 😆 I won't be troubling the Olympics or even top club swimmers any time soon, but as casual swimmers I'm faster than all but a few of the men, so I think your assumption is a bit out. Well, now I've got that off my ego...!

This guy sounds annoying for sure and sounds like he should move up a lane. Just as annoying are the ones in the fast lane who shouldn't be there. I wish that more people just took a sensible and considerate approach all round!

I’m guessing he was a serious swimmer just minding his own business and doing a proper training session
rather than some who’s gone for a splash round and to watch and criticise people

Was this a bit of a dig at me @rwalker?

It was an observation I was making, as well as asking a question. I don't go 'for a splash round' nor do I 'watch and criticise'. I get on with my (probably pretty slow) 30 minutes of mixed style swimming. I can still see perfectly well what others are doing when I'm doing so.

I wear prescription goggles. I get mine from a company called Prescription Goggles (presumably that makes them easily found) and they're excellent. They start at below £20. They don't fully correct my eyesight as I'm extremely short-sighted: they go up to -8, and you can get different strengths for each eye. I'm more short-sighted than that, plus astigmatism, but -8 lenses are a great help and mean I can see where I'm going. I asked at the opticians a few years ago about goggles in my actual prescription, which at the time were going to be £60, no doubt much more now.

I wear Gator goggles: they're mid-price-range and very comfortable, but there's lots of other choices available.

www.prescription-swimming-goggles.co.uk/products/gator-swimming-goggles-including-prescription-lenses?_pos=1&_fid=1d64c68bb&_ss=c

Today I and my partner shared a lane with a woman. No issues, we swam around each other when needed. Re goggles and snorkels, at 71 and 74 we both use them to swim without back problems and to breathe steadily, more like meditation. Which is why we don’t like butterflies or splashy entitled males getting their preferences.

A man and a woman struck up a conversation in the jacuzzi while I was there today about jacuzzi's

Shocking stuff...

It was actually the men getting in the way chatting at the end of the lane today. It’s difficult to push off when there’s 3 of them.

On the plus side, we (3 men and 2 women) were all respectful about overtaking.

It’s the reason I only swim in lakes now, loads of space and everyone is respectful … no feet in the face or being swam at !

I swim daily at least a couple of miles. There are always some people complaining about others. Most of us swim happily and avoid collisions. The fact you say he nearly sped into you at fifty mph means he did not hit you and you are prone to exaggerate

Reading your replies is madness. You made an issue out of this and how can you possibly know a woman would have checked first. You’re the issue

The further away from the pool wall the faster the lane, therefore if you wanted a leisurely swim you should swim in the lane closest to the wall regardless of the sex of the other swimmers so yes YABU