Terse exchange with woman - lane swimming

[SirChenjins]

I've just joined a gym and have been using the pool in the evenings when it's quiet. It's not the biggest pool (20m x 8m) and is sectioned off lengthways, with half of the pool for classes and general use, the slower lane in one quarter and the faster lane in the other quarter. The lanes have boards at the end on the poolside showing the direction you have to swim in, and this is also covered in your induction.

When I got to the pool last night an aqua aerobics class was in the half sectioned off, so I swam in the slower lane. 2 people were in the faster lane, I was the only one in the slower lane. Around 25 minutes in, the aqua class finished and everyone left, although a few stayed in the pool. One woman got into the slower lane where I was, waited till I finished a length and asked if it was OK if we swam side by side. I wasn't sure what she meant, so said no, we're meant to swim in single file clockwise like the board shows. She wasn't happy and asked why, so I repeated what I'd said, and started swimming again. I was aware that she was close behind me, and when we'd finished a further 2 lengths she asked why we couldn't swim side by side. Again, I repeated what I'd said, and she wasn't happy - she said she was swimming faster than me, and it made sense. I said she was in the slower lane (it wasn't marked on the board last night for some reason, but I've seen here there before and it's always marked - plus we're told at induction which lane is which) and if she wanted to go faster she could use the faster lane where there was only one person swimming. Lots of huffing from her, before she reluctanctly moved into the faster lane where I could hear her complaining.

I spoke to the manager afterwards and asked if they could make sure the signs were on the board. They were really annoyed with her and said that the lanes are not wide enough for 2 people, that it's dangerous to swim side by side as people can be kicked, and that she absolutely should have been using the faster lane and not arguing with people in the pool. They want me to fill in an incident report. WWYD?

@arethereanyleftatall OP didn't know that when they had their exchange. She is the one abiding by the rules of the pool.

No they don't if you have any awareness.

I swim regularly. If I am side by side with two people and a third gets in, the third begins swimming up the correct direction for circuits and the person in the other lane reverts to circuits once they are back at the "start point" of the circuit. It's not rocket science.

What IS annoying is the guy I call "rude guy" at my Monday swim who is oblivious in a busy pool. If there are 6 people in the circuit and I am waiting for the swimmer ahead to get a little way down the pool before setting off, rude guy if he reaches my end of the pool just launches into that space. He constantly overtakes people as a consequence, swimming down the middle of the pool at least half of the time, making the water very choppy. I wish the pool staff would have a word with him.

If there is space for two of you and nobody else there then I don't see why you can't? It just means you both swim at your own pace rather than having to kind of queue up while swimming?

When people say “swimming side by side” they don’t usually mean swimming right next to each other like old ladies in floral hats chatting while doing breaststroke.

You are just sticking to your own side of the lane as you go up and down. You can swim in opposite directions (ie one swims up while the other swims down the lane) so you don’t end up swimming together. It’s no different to swimming circuits in terms of passing, it just avoids running into the back of the other person.

Yes but these rules aren't laws. If the two people using the lane decide by mutual consent to swim a different way then I would not expect lifeguards to butt in.

In this case OP didn't want to swim side by side and that is fine, the other swimmer should have respected that. But she did nothing wrong by asking the question in the first place.

ETA this is in reply to NedIsHereNow

im a club swimmer, so, like any club swimmer, the difference in speed between us and public swimmers (even the fast ones) is vast.
the unspoken etiquette is that the faster swimmer would watch out for the slower swimmer (a bit like on a ski slope).
so, I would always ask for side by side if there’s just one other swimmer because then I only have to think about switching to a narrower breaststroke or single arm fly to pass them if we’re side by side only once every 50m.
if we’re circuits I’m constantly gaging and switching strokes and speeds to work out when best to overtake. I don’t want them to follow the normal rules of stopping at the end to let me past, as it’s not fair on them, as if I’m going 18secs per 25m and they’re going at 1 minute per length I would still catch them up again as I’m doing more than 3 to their 1. So side by side is the only doable option sometimes.

OP, I have a diagram since different people are talking about different things.

How is it possible for the lane to be wide enough for two people to pass each other doing circuits, but not to pass each other in exactly the same way when swimming up and down?

Exactly!!

OP, how do you do circuits if the lane isn't big enough for 2 people to pass each other?

OP did you think side by side meant next to each other at all times up and down the lane, maybe chatting to each other as you swim?? Otherwise as literally everyone is telling you, the passing points are the same whether you’re doing circuits or side by side. The way you’ve responded suggests it’s you that’s the argumentative person and the other woman was probably just like ‘why doesn’t this woman understand what I’m asking to do?!’

No, that's not the layout - although that diagram is a thing of beauty.
Imagine one pool, 20m by 8m. The pool is sectioned off lengthways using dividers. One section is 4 m wide - aqua classes, general use. The remaining 4 m are divided into 2 - each section is 2 m wide (minus the dividers).

One 2 m wide section is for slower swimmers. The board shows you go up on one side of that section and down the other side (still within that section).. This is also explained at induction and everyone follows this whenever I've been in. Side by side swimming is done in the 4 m section where there's enough space.

The other 2m wide section is for faster swimmers. The ones who want to go faster than the people in the slower lane go in there. There was no reason whatsoever that this woman couldn't have gone in there (where one other woman was going faster than me) or in the wider 4m section where there was space for her to do the speed she wanted.

2 m is plenty wide enough for two people to swim "side by side"

And as many of us have said repeatedly if you can swim circuits and pass each other then you can "side by side" style

I can’t believe you went to the manager about it 😂

Why would anyone want to swim side by side and then have to overtake or adjust their stroke to accommodate the slower swimmer on every length when there are 2 other lanes she could have used without having to do either - it makes no sense.

Well in your op that wasn't the scenario at all and there was only one person in your lane and two in the fast lane

I just want to get in a pool and swim up and down when I go as do most swimmers. I wouldn't ever swim in the general swimming area unless I had no other choice

I am baffled how you can't grasp how much better it is to choose to swim side by side when there are only two people in the lane. You wouldn't be crossing any more frequently than swimming in circuits but neither of you would have to think about the other one's speed

But you don't overtake or adjust stroke, you just stay in your bit of the lane. I don't understand how there is enough room to pass doing circuits but not to swim side by side

Eh ?

Person on left side of lane is doing head down crawl, 20 second lengths
Person on right side of lane is doing head up breast stroke doing 40 second lengths

Left person will pass right person quite regularly
they will be next to each other for one stroke every four lengths

Common sense says that if there is space to swim in a circuit there’s space to swim side by side if you are swimming at different speeds. Either way, I cannot see why this is an issue for going to the manager or making an issue out of it.

Agree with PP this makes no sense, there must have been room to swim side by side it’s literally no different to passing when doing circuits. And it’s a totally normal thing to do when only two people are using the lane, fine for you to say no if you really feel strongly but ridiculous to report to the manager and make a thing of it.

But she would have had to adjust her stroke every time she came towards me going faster than me, given the narrowness of tge lane, or overtaken me when she caught up with me from behind.

Or, she could have just done the common sense thing and gone into the lane more suited to her speed - or tge wider lane where she could have swum side by side without having to adjust/overtake.

Have you literally only been to one pool in your entire life?

Did you not pause to think for a millisecond that between the two potential options here...either the poster is some sort of superhero who can breath underwater/walk on it like Jesus OR there just might be a pool that isn't as deep as the one you go to - and realise one is more plausible than the other.

It's actually quite hard to find a deep pool these days, health and safety (and more expensive).

OP I don't understand why, if she was faster than you why she didn't just go ahead, if you were slower than you wouldn't catch her up = problem solved.

It's pretty irrelevant whether other people swim side by side in their pools - you didn't want to and in that pool they don't like you doing it - so she was being unreasonable to huff about it.

I thought that’s the usual done thing when there’s only 2 people in lane. Once a third person joins you then go back to the official ‘direction’ and swim circles. I’m not sure why you refused or got upset about this?

No more so than if you were swimming in a circuit
And if there were two people in the first lane already and only one in your lane I don't think she was being unreasonable at all

I've swum my whole life in multiple different private gyms and it's always been the case that people will suggest swimming side by side of their only two people in a lane

Just because it is a new concept to you doesn't mean it was an unreasonable request

I didn't'report' it - I checked with the person at the desk (who I presume was the dity manager - it was later in the evening and she was the only person there) to make sure I hadn't been in the fast lane by mistake because I couldn't understand why a fast swimmer wouldn't just use the fast lane. She said I had been in the slow lane and asked if there was a problem. I told her about the conversation I'd had.

Have you read the responses? The why has been explained over and over. And in 2m there is plenty of space to swim side by side. 1m each.

I think you’re not understanding something to not get it, but I can’t work out what it is!