Swimming lane etiquette

[Flowersandforests]

hi everyone - I’m recovering from a back injury & have started going swimming. At my gym you have to book a lane depending on your speed.

I was swimming today (backstroke) and could see a woman a few strokes behind me who was trying to overtake. She wasn’t swimming faster than me & I didn’t slow my speed so she just sort of stayed behind me but in the middle of the lane (if that makes sense). This went on for a few lengths until she cut across me at the end of the lane - then she massively slowed down and i got stuck behind her while she caught her breath and doggy paddled. In the end, i waited at the end of the lane so she was far enough ahead of me that her speed didn’t interfere with my swimming but it really threw my concentration !! I saw her do it to a few other people too….

Is this normal?! There was another guy who was super quick so he was easily overtaking people but it didn’t interfere with anyone else’s swimming as he was so fast. So should you slow down if someone wants to overtake even if you are swimming at the same speed?!

I wonder whether foot tapping is standard in club swimming, which some pools have adopted universally, but those who didn't club swim aren't aware of / feel is 'wrong'?

I was a club swimmer for years, as was Dh. Lessons, twice a day training through school, uni swim team etc. Masters club swimming until about 2015.

foot tapping never a thing. Club swimmers know how to order themselves so they don’t need to overtake, or overtake at the end of a lane, or at the end of a set.

i asked dh and he said no, not a thing and anyway he’s not going to touch other people underwater. When he was competitive he used to train with the elite women and the idea of touching women’s feet while they’re trying to train- just no.

only foot tapper I came across was a young lad in masters sessions who put himself in our lane of mostly middle aged women, and spent the session tapping at feet because he was faster than us. He wouldn’t move up lanes because his ego wouldn’t allow him to be the slowest in the lane.

i don’t know how it’s come into use but don’t touch anyone underwater.

You dont know she easnt faster. She may have been hanging back because Op was a fraction slower than her.

I was a club swimmer too. Foot tapping was definitely a thing, and an acceptable practice, in my experience. It is very different to grabbing someone by the ankle and yanking them back (as is reported in these forums from time to time). That said, it was rarely necessary because most club swimmers understand lane etiquette and don't obstruct other swimmers.

I can read thanks. We don't know who was fast or slow.