Territorial dispute in swimming pool

[tamade]

I am lucky enough to have a proper lunch break and at least three times a week I go to a nearby hotel and swim a mile, sometimes 2km.

Today I was alone in the pool and started swimming in lane two (of four) which is one lane away from the side closest to the changing rooms entrance. About 30 min later a man got in and stated to swim in lane 1. Five minutes after that he changed into my lane. I caught up with him at the far end and when he turned he looked at me swimming toward him and seemed surprised (surprised I hadn't moved lanes?). He then kicked off the wall and swam beneath me and under the lane divider into lane three. Not long after I finished up and went to get changed. Before exiting I looked back and sure enough he had moved back into lane two, which I presume is "his". And based on that I believe that he was trying to claim lane 2 when he initially moved in.

He is another regular I have seen him coming as I am going although we don't usually use the pool at the same time.

I think this is knobish behaviour

He didn’t do anything wrong…

I think you are correct in your analysis of the situation and people are deliberately trying to see it some other way. Probably to be obtuse.

the man arrived at a 4 lane swimming pool. One lane had you in it, the others were empty. Normal behaviour would be to use an empty one, seeing as lanes 3 and 2 are identical and 1 and 4 differ slightly as they have steps/side. But he wanted the lane that you were swimming in. At best, he’s shown bad etiquette. At worst, he was trying to intimidate you out.

How anyone can see this as innocent is beyond me. He swam directly UNDERNEATH the op when the pool was otherwise 100% empty. Absolutely cunty.

But you’re surmising that. Maybe he thought he was same slows and they’d swim up and down against each other?

We have no idea he got in there to be intimidating. That’s been decided on the fact he got in, moved out and moved back in.

If he’d have swam over OP, at OP, deliberately pushed off to swim over her repeatedly I’d have agreed with her.

But her own story admits that’s not what happened.

Hon/mate/whatever, no one hates all men. It isn't possible. But most women know we have to be very wary of them. In particular, the ones who get into women's personal space when there's no need for it. If there's more than one lane in a swimming pool, then he had no reason to be anywhere near the OP.
The reason I think you're a bloke is because you seem to not understand this. It's a giveaway.

Why would they need to swim up and down against each other in the same lane when they could each have their own lane?

Surely anyone with even the most basic social skills ought to realise that the person already in the otherwise empty pool would most likely prefer to continue having a lane to themselves if possible and that if you choose to get into their lane when all the other lanes are free you will probably annoy them?

I was on the verge of two options:

1. He consideres it his lane
2. If the lanes are graded based on speed and he falls within the category in which that line is, I would be more understanding . However, Considering your update he was being a dick. He could have chosen a different empty lane to stop bothering you.

I refuse to move usually when someone gets in. It happens quite often in the gym I go, there are no lanes and I tend to do plenty of laps but somehow there is always a bloke invading my path, so I charge at them, and they move out of the way.
They don’t do that to other blokes inside the pool.

Yes and reduce his own convenience to the bargain.

YANBU

Commenters who don't swim don't get this is actually a 'thing' ... so many men absolutely feel entitled to women's space in a pool, the faster lane, the better lane. And god forbid a woman swims faster than they do.

I think he did want the lane you were in and fully expected you to accommodate him by silently moving across to another empty lane. Much like women make way for men on pavements so they don't get barged into (deliberately).

So fucking what?

You don't prioritise your own convenience over someone else's?

One lane is much the same as another, particularly when comparing lanes 2 and 3 out of 4.

I think swimming under you instead of waiting two seconds was awful, I would have hated that and felt really uncomfortable.

I don't really care if club swimmers do that all the time. Do it at your club, but it's very rude to do it to random, unsuspecting swimmers in a public session.
It's especially ignorant if it's a man doing it to a woman. I suspect he wouldnt have done it if the OP was a man.

Apparently anything is complete reasonable if you went to swimming club 🙄🤣

I wonder if the swimming underneath you thing was an act of perve?

A lot of entitled behaviour goes on in public swimming pools.

There were a couple of women swimming lengths last week at the family fun session.
There were two empty lanes and the rest of the pool was families with inflatables and balls and things.
Instead of going in the empty lanes they swam next to each other slowly, just swimming straight at people and tutting and huffing when kids didn't move out of their way quick enough.
Just weird and twatish.

Finally, someone talking sense!

YANBU! A few months back I decided to go for an early morning swim at my local gym. Thinking it would be quiet (HAHAHAH!!) I got there for 6:15am not realising the pool doesn’t actually open until 6:30am. I noticed a gaggle of ladies in reception in their dry robes but as I have a membership pass I just went straight down to the changing rooms. No one was there. At 6:30am on the DOT the changing room doors opened and the group of women came in. One of them had a right go at me about coming into the changing room before 6:30am, “why do you think we were all waiting upstairs”. I calmly stated I hadn’t realised, the door was unlocked so I came in. She then loudly declared that “people like me” coming in early will mean they lock the doors.

I didn’t want to engage so I just went pool side. They all lined up in front of the slow and medium lanes. Absolutely no one lined up for the fast lane. Fine I thought I’ll just go in the fast lane. No one gets in. After a few moments two young life guards appear and grant permission to enter the pool! I’m just thinking, this is so bloody weird.

Within a few moments I realise why no one was in the fast lane. Four other women who all looked exceptionally athletic appear, notice me in “their” lane. At this point I just think sod it, I’m in and not going to be bullied by this lot- i have every right to be here. I swam the fastest (breast stroke 😂) I have ever swum in my life.

Never have I encountered a bitchier and cliquier group of women. I was just left dumbfounded honestly - I’m a mum of young kids just trying to fit in some exercise before work!

This is the scene of the incident. The lanes are not graded for speed, it’s a free choice. Personally I’d always choose an unoccupied one. Can’t understand not doing so.

You can think I'm male all you like but
I'm not male.
I also stand up for women when men actually do something wrong, but I honestly don't think he really did anything horrible here.

I've swam loads.
As a female I often find fellow females more annoying than males.

I get it OP. I remember swimming in a lane once at a local pool. I was in the slowest lane. A man got it my lane and was a faster swimmer than me. The other lanes had more people in whereas I was the only one in the slow lane. After a while he said maybe I should practise my swimming a bit more before swimming in the lanes. Such a knob. I ignored him

You might want to have a look at the pic posted above by the OP. He definitely knew what he was doing.

It's not rude.
It's normal.
HTH

I might also want to ignore someone who insists I'm a man. Tschüss.

I didn't say I did it.
I'd say expecting someone to change perfectly normal behaviour is more rude.

It's not normal behaviour to swim under someone.

It's arguably rude behaviour even when the pool is chock-a-block.

When the pool is almost empty it's the behaviour of a sociopath.