Lane Swimming Advice

[BugsyDrakeTableScape]

A friend and I have recently restarted lane swimming. It's a 5 lane pool and pretty much the same crowd every session. We've worked our way up from Very Slow to Slow. However, we're now at the point where we're probably too quick for the Slow Lane but not consistently quick enough for the Medium Slow lane. There's not enough space to overtake in the lanes and there is general bad lane etiquette in terms of recognising faster swimmers and pausing to allow them to overtake at the end of lengths.

So my question is - is it better to move up to a quicker lane, recognising that others are quicker and making the necessary adjustments or stick it out in the slower lane?

I know you need to judge it on the day as far as you can - but this is literally the same people every day using the same lanes. Any advice gratefully received!

I'd say better to be the quickest one in a slow lane than the slowest one in a faster lane.

I agree but in your shoes where you’re swimming regularly I’d be looking for a gym with a pool where there are quieter times and you don’t have to book so I didn’t have to deal with sharing a lane. It’s the only reason I pay for David Lloyd every month. I’m not very good at sharing lanes, or pools actually I usually swim outside and much prefer it in winter when I’m usually alone.

I agree - if you're the quickest you can also be the one to work round it e.g. you can turn round and go back down the lane or overtake if you'll be quick enough/there's enough space. If you're the slow swimmer with someone coming up behind you, you're limited in what you can do.

I also think it depends how many people in the lane. If there's a major imbalance in numbers (7 in one lane and 2 in the other, for example) you might be better just picking the lane with fewer people.

Depends how much of a gap there is between you and the slower/faster swimmers in the respective lane. If you're only a bit faster than most in the Slow lane but a lot slower than most in the Medium lane, then it's better to be there. I would also pay attention to the number of people, since your impact will be smaller in a smaller lane.

You point out the slow swimmers not allowing faster swimmers to overtake. Are the fast swimmers in the Medium lane respecting the slower swimmers in turn? When there's inconvenience, the inconvenience should go both ways. Slower swimmers should allow faster swimmers to overtake, which then breaks the slower swimmer's swimming. In turn, faster swimmers should take more pauses and swim fewer laps at a time so as to allow for large gaps between themselves and the slower swimmers in front to build up.

I don't think there's a general rule. You'll find which way you think is more annoying for you and can only guess what annoyance you might pose for others.

Thank you all - that's really helpful! We've been sticking as the fastest in the slower lane but actually were keeping pace with medium lane (just not consistently). Think we need to get our stamina up a bit more before we make the next move!

I dunno what I'd do if there were 5 lanes.

The slow lane fitness swimmers say there's godawful lack of discipline in their lane. Barnacles, flotsam, wanderers. You'll get less of those as lanes get faster.

There's a lot you can do to make it easier for any faster swimmers to get past you. Is why I prefer to be slowest in a faster lane.