How does lane swimming work if I am a very slow swimmer?

[Nitgel]

I know this has been covered before, but how does lane swimming work. I went today as that seems to be the only option to swim at my local pool and I am desperate for a swim. i stuck to the slow lane but people were overtaking me. Am i too slow to use the lane swimming?

I am a competent slow swimmer and haven't been in the pool for a year plus I have bad knee arthritis so was hoping this would help me. I felt like I was in the commonwealth games.

Should I find another pool? it's a pain as I use the gym frequently and get swimming too as part of the membership. I just breaststroke quite sedately.

I swim every night,have done for years,never heard of foot tapping! But if anyone did it to me they would get well and truly told to NEVER do it again.

You stay in the slow lane. If there's too many people faster than you they should be in the medium lane. You are fine and doing nothing wrong. This foot tapping thing is not a thing in the slow lane. Very rude. If someone catches up with you they can slow down to your pace until the end of the current length and then at the end they sey off first and you follow on at your own pace.

I have some nerve damage to the bottom of my feet. I wouldn't know if someone has tapped my feet.

I do a length in 40 - 50 seconds. So I am just about fast enough for the middle lane, but you get men with the wing span of an albatross doing breast stroke in the narrow middle lane, because they aren't quite as fast as the fast lane crawl swimmers. So I end up in the wider slow lane, dodging the slower swimmers.

How long is the length just out of interest

Usually 25m.

I’m glad the consensus is to not do the foot tapping thing. From a practical perspective I don’t really understand how you’d do it anyway - you’re moving, the other swimmer is also moving - how do you coordinate it?

Plus, what if the swimmer in front is kicking fairly vigorously? You’d risk getting kicked in the face if you tried to touch their foot.

Stay in slow lane and ignore any tutting, I’m ridiculously slow myself

My local pool has 4 lanes and the slow is twice the width of the other lanes, also 33m long though. It’s easy to pass or be passed in the slow lane, no toe touching!

I used to swim in a 33m pool. I like that pool length. a minute up, a minute back, then rest a minute. Repeat 10 times.

This is the first I have heard of the foot tapping thing. Sounds horrendous.
I have recently re-started swimming and am a bit too fast for the slow lane but definitely not fast enough for the medium lane. I don't mind hanging back behind slow swimmers, or sometimes overtaking them, or sometimes doubling back halfway to even out the spread of people.
You are definitely in the right lane. Enjoy your swimming!

The problem with my current pool is that we only get 1/2 the pool for lane swimming, the rest being used for lessons. So there are only 3 lanes: slow, medium and fast. I used to swim at a pool with 6 lanes. 2 slow, 2 medium and 2 fast. I would go in the faster slow lane or the slower medium lane and never had any issues with passing or being passed.

If someone is much faster than you, let them go ahead and start right behind them. The gap will widen naturally and they will have to overtake less often.

I would say keep swimming OP, it is brilliant exercise.

In time, you may even get a bit faster.

As someone who swam in a club as a child till my early 20s, and now swims in lanes for leisure, toe tapping is normal in club training but definitely not with members of the public you don't know and definitely not in the slow lane - that would be massively inappropriate. I'm not even sure if it would have been ok at my university swim club to be honest, we just overtook in that situation or expected the other person to realise and let us past.

@Nitgel you are entitled to swim at the pace you want - you are in the appropriate lane and if people find they want to go faster, they can overtake or go up a lane. The only thing I'd recommend is that you stop and let faster people pass you at the end of each length.

The foot tapping thing has grown arms and legs on this thread. I swim nearly every day and I have been tapped once when stuck behind people. It may not have been deli. I don’t think it’s a big thing. Our pool is busy but we make room for everyone. I am fast front crawl and back stroke and slow breast stroke (disabled legs!) - everyone is used to me and I to them nobody cares.

Yes, some have them all the time some only for dedicated lane swimming sessions. There are usually white boards displayed at the end of each length telling you if it’s S/M/F (usually in that order although not always). The board often also tells you if it’s swim clockwise or anticlockwise. Often the slow lane is wider to account for more overtaking/people swimming two abreast having a chat etc…

It is usually pretty obvious when you look at the pool which is which. People in the fast lanes often have fins/other equipment, often swimming hats and goggles and generally taking it seriously. Slow lane is usually full of women often older or beginners, often swimmers who need to stop and walk a bit or who don’t like to get their hair wet.

pro tip- if the pool is quiet and there’s a chance to a lane to yourself use the slow lane as men are less inclined to get in it and would rather have several of them in the fast lane competing for space. 😂. I do this sometimes and move if genuinely slower swimmers turn up.

Thank you so much @AppleKatie I’ve bought a swimsuit so just need to give it a go!

I am a very slow swimmer. I stay in the slow lane and let people overtake. I akways hang back and let everyone go first. You arent doing anything wrong.

No one has tapped my foot. I would probably panic and forget to breathe/ swim. Ive seen jaws and although i know im in a pool my brain will shout ' SHARK, ITS A SHARK '

So anyone touching my foot will be told not to. Just go round me or slow down. Weirdos.

I’m a club swimmer and foot tapping is very very rare. Can’t remember an occasion when somebody has done that for years, but we are all really nice at my club (masters swimming).

Don't worry about being slow. As long as you are in the slow lane and swimming up and down (not standing chatting !) it’s not a problem at all.

Beginning to wonder if Iwas unlucky with the two blokes I encountered

Foot tapping man and the man who said I'm just going to swim straight into you so you need to get out of my way

Yep. They were pricks.

The foot tapping thing is normal in club swimming. I think a lot of club swimmers and ex-club swimmers just assume everyone does it and knows what it means. If you’ve been doing a thing since you were 8 or whatever then it’s easy to assume it’s the norm.

Yes, and they clearly did not belong in the slow lane

I think they picked it because it was the quietest

And now I'm hearing it's a club thing, I'm even more suspicious. I think they were actually very good swimmers.