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.

Agree. The etiquette of slow lane swimming is that no one is too slow. They should have moved up a lane.

My local pool has this up on the wall as "lane etiquette".
Though good luck to anyone trying to tap a good breaststroker's toe 😂

Oh god no you don't want to do 'general swim', that's screaming kids leaping into the pool all over and nowhere to actually swim!

You do want lane swimming, just go in slow lane and take rests at the end of lengths, I'm a truly awful swimmer and noone has ever been mean to me about it

After all this talk of lanes and etiquette- I had the medium lane to myself this morning. Gave myself a late start to the work day and stayed in for bloody ages. I needed that!

@Berwynnie most (all?) of them have booking by app now, so you can see in advance exactly what lanes are available when, whether there are two lanes per speed or just one, how many other people have booked on etc. I find this a big improvement on the days when they just published a timetable and you turned up and paid with no idea how many other people would be in your lane. Obviously people don't always stick to the one they booked but in general it controls the numbers. Also when you get in, stop in the corner and watch what other people are doing before starting to swim. Or watch from the poolside for a moment.

I tend to avoid general swimming sessions too, it is chaos in our pool, kids crashing about all over the place. It is a shame if you want to mix a bit of proper swimming with a bit of floating, treading water, chatting etc. Sometimes they have three lanes plus half a pool for general swimming which is a compromise.

people were overtaking me.

that's fine, you obviously created space to make it easy for them. I don't know why you're worried. It's not a race. People in lanes are always mixed speed and waiting until the end to overtake is just an option.

I'm usually the slowest in the fast lane & people overtake me. I do my best to make it easy for them to overtake. Sometimes I'm the fastest and I overtake others. Not being able to overtake would annoy me but you didn't make it impossible for others to overtake, so all good.

I can't remember being foot tapped, wouldn't care if I were tapped although I don't understand how someone does that without getting kicked, I think it's just an intention signal, not aggressive. IME, club swimmers are so fast they don't have time to tap, from behind to ahead in a flash.

ps: general swim times in day time (before 1pm especially, sometimes schools come in afternoons) in TERMTIME are perfect for adults wanting a quiet swim. Sometimes evening too after 8pm, even in school holidays, can be quiet. Out of school term, many pools still might be quiet on weekday mornings.

My current pool doesn't have an App to book sessions, or even any lanes labeled as slow/medium.

OP, if you are in the slow lane you literally can't be in the wrong. Everyone else must sort themselves out around you. People tend to switch lanes as you work out where you fit. Breast stroke is generally slower than freestyle so other swimmers will expect to pass you. It is curtesy to let the faster swimmer go past you if you both reach the end together.

Our local pool do swimming training sessions during the week out of school holidays where you do some drills and guided swimming, all levels very welcome. This could really augment your confidence with lane swimming if you have a chance. Ours is very friendly and I did get much better/faster when I used to go.

I would hate the thought that a swimmer felt they were too slow for lane swimming. You really can't be and it is for everyone. Anyone who is doing specific timed stuff should be well out of your way in the faster lanes anyway. Please persist: it's a great form of exercise and bringer of joy, even more so if you can track down an open air pool.

Yeah i would hate someone grabbing my foot. I dont see why its necessary. If there's enough room to overtake just do it, im not going to miss a whole person swimming alongside me, its not exactly something unexpected in a swimming pool, I dont need to be "warned" or alterted to it! If there's not enough room you'll just have to wait and ask to go in front when you reach the end of the lane.

As with most social interactions op the vast majority of the time the answer is just talk to people!

Talk to the staff and ask when the quieter times are
Talk to the people in your lane - if they are coming up quickly behind you stop when you get to the end and tell them to go ahead.

While generally if everyone is swimming faster than you its for them to move to a different lane, at the same time if there are already 5 people in the fast lane and only 1 in your lane it would be silly for yet another person to join them and leave yours almost empty.

Sharing lanes can be stressful but hold your nerve, as long as you let people pass at either end.

Never mind toe-tapping, the worst I have experienced is swimming behind a slower swimmer hoping to pass them at the end of the length (no room to overtake). Unexpectedly, a man swims UNDER both of us to get past. Gave me quite a shock, but it still didn't occur to the slower swimmer to move down a lane.

It's really hard to find quiet times in indoor pools in my area, the demand totally outstrips availability of sessions.

Tapping is tapping not grabbing, afaik.

Swimming is so boring, Sharing lanes is honestly the only thing that can make it interesting, keeping track of where others are in your lane and whether you need to pause at end to let them overtake, or setting yourself a challenge that they only overtake my every 3 lengths or whatever.

25m

I swim regularly in private health club pools, often attached to hotels, have done for many years, and have never come across the toe tapping thing.
I suppose I'd know what to do if someone did tap my toe and would move accordingly but the person would definitely get the old stink-eye. Because what’s wrong with saying ‘excuse me, coming through,’ or similar?

Thank you so much! Yes I have an app for the pool near me but I haven’t ventured so far as booking. Must take the plunge (pardon the pun!). I appreciate your tips🙂

Go at your own pace. You have as much right to be in a lane as anyone else, and if anyone has a go at you for swimming slowly in the slow lane, report them to staff.

my local pool is terrible for lane territoriality, there’s always some people trying to claim a lane and intimidating anyone else trying to use it. Only this morning a couple were in the middle lane not actually swimming but having a cuddle and a chat. But glared at me for getting in the lane and actually swimming in it….!

How do you speak, or indeed, hear when your head is underwater? And of course many swimmers wear earplugs anyway.

The etiquette arose from fast club swimming where verbal communication is not possible.

agree with this reply.

I was confused @Sadcafe hiw you like swimming but not lane swimming. I don’t get how swimming looks for you if it’s not swimming up and down at a pace that suits you. It’s not a jacuzzi to just hang out in

Well, there are people who maybe can't manage a full length and would rather do widths, or don't feel confident in the deep end, but want to improve their water confidence or just enjoy what swimming they can do, I think that's where the general swimming sessions have their uses. I like swimming lengths but I also like floating on my back, treading water, those are nice things to do in a pool. Our pool has a separate chest deep learner pool which has sessions especially for adults who don't want to swim lengths it is the same length as the width of the main pool. It is also where they do aquafit classes which are suitable for non-swimmers.

I see lots of people just walking up and down the pool, presumably as some kind of rehab, plu lotsvof very slow swimmers, often using boyancy aids. It's at David Lloyd - lots of older people use it and I think they probably like it because there isn't the need to swim lengths (there are lanes for that too).

I'm a DLL member too. I swim twice a week (in the slow lane!) and there are occasionally those who walk or do their exercises in the pool. I never understand, though, why they choose to do them in the slow swimming lane!

Where the fuck has the foot touching rule come from?

Can Mumsnet please campaign to ban this practice? Bleurgh.

I’m slow in the slow lane. I let people pass me and always offer people to set off before me when we turn round. My pool has an open swim section but I can’t swim there as they allow 30 people in a session and they stand around/ have physio / teach their children.

I’m 71 and a slow swimmer, started 2 years ago (today!) lane swimming at 6.30am 3 days a week. A few of us are slow, some are faster but they have the option of moving to the medium lane. Happy for people to overtake me and let people go first at ends of lane. This morning I overtook someone - well chuffed!

There isn't anywhere else to go though. It's not a big club with lots of pools.

The only thing you need to look out for is when you come to turn have a check there no one obviously faster app if there is wait till they’ve turned and set off behind them

your a rare breed OP s a lot of people are just as rude as fuck lane swimming brings out the worst

I swim most days and I would class myself as a fast swimmer if I had to choose I’d choose to share with a a slow swimmer every time
easy to overtake and if you both touch the wall at the same time you can both set off as the fastest swimmer s soon clear of the slow swimmer

fast or slow don’t care the pools for everyone rude inconsiderate swimmers I could happily hold under the water