Lane swimming, help!

[user293948849167]

Hello, after some advice please!
Have said I will start taking my 2 teen DDs swimming in the evenings, it is lane swimming from 5pm at our local pool every evening, they want to start tomorrow.
I have never been lane swimming before, am not a very good swimmer so a bit worried about it!
What are the rules? Is there a slow lane, and what do I do if I’m too slow? Bit worried about causing a traffic jam 😬
My DDs are both strong swimmers so not worried about them, I could just let them go in alone but seems a shame because I could do with more exercise.

Yes fast lane swimmers are the ones who will know about toe tapping. They’re (ex) club swimmers, masters swimmers, triathletes, swimming instructors etc

My local pool is just the same, except that we don’t book. I’m one of the fastest in the slow lane, it takes me about 2min 10 secs to swim 50m.
FWIW all the slow, chatty lane blockers in the sessions I attend are retired men (happily tolerated by the rest of us). The women swim lengths and chat in the cafe.

Yes- I was a competitive swimmer- twice a day through my teens and masters on and off as an adult for 49 years.

foot tapping seems relatively recent and I hate it. It is not necessary with good lane practice, you either need to be in a faster lane or you alter your swim speed.

it was a big no no even when I was a kid to touch someone else in the pool intentionally.

Yes occasionally there was a clash of arms or legs, but to follow someone touching their feet? To me that’s just weird.

it definitely wasn’t “standard etiquette” in the 70’s and 80’s. My dad was also a competitive swimmer and a coach until relatively recently and he did not allow it in his sessions.

See in my experience swimmers know not to touch others in the pool intentionally. At all.

I mean what doe you expect me to do? Stop in the middle of the length to allow you to go past? If as someone said you want me to allow you to pass at the end there’s no need to be touching my feet for the preceeding 20m.

if someone is an experienced lane swimmer they know if someone is gaining on them and will allow them to overtake. Toe tapping is unnecessary- not to mention touching someone in a swimming pool without consent. Keep your hands to yourself.

in my experience as well it is always men who toe tap. Women very rarely do, which says it all.

the toe tapping comes in if the person in front of you won’t let you pass (ie even when you are right behind them, they push off without letting you go first).

OP for the love of God, when you get to the end, before you push off please have a quick look that there isn’t someone right up behind you trying to get past.

I used to be a lifeguard. Honestly, it is totally normal and accepted among the fast-lane swimmers who come early every morning. Others don’t usually do it.

Are these early morning fast lane swimmers male?

so I don’t want people touching me in the swimming pool. Am I supposed to accept unwanted touching from strangers?

if by swimming in an early morning fast lane is implied consent to touching should I not be made aware of that before I get in?

honestly it goes against every safeguarding policy. I’ve been a swimmer, a parent, a coach, and the rule is always no touching without consent.

i don’t think it should be normal or normalised tbh.

Agreed. We used to get bollocked if someone tapped our foot and we didn't move to let them pass. Very standard in clubs.

Well you can't say you are right behind someone when swimming? It is literally a tap on your ankle to let you know they are there and want to pass.

No it doesn't. The NSPCC Child Protection in Sport Unit says that fleeting, functional physical contact is permissible when it is required to meet the technical requirements of the sport or prevent accidents, which is exactly what a foot tap does.

50% male 50% female.
Foot tapping is an established and very practical convention, not a safeguarding issue. Nobody doing this Is trying to be abusive or sexual. However, it is obviously fine if you ask people not to do it.

Ok I will stick to the slow lane first.
Also may be a silly question but is resting ok after finishing a length or do you have to keep going? I know I can definitely do 2 lengths but am more of a holiday swimmer so not sure how many I can do in one go!

Yes, it's fine. Just tuck yourself in to a corner so you're not blocking anyone's turn.

Not my experience at all. More like occupied by large men who refuse to let you overtake because they can't cope with the fact that a small but trained woman is faster than whatever their inefficient stroke is supposed to be.

Anyway no one will mind if you're slow OP. Just use the correct lane and direction and let people pass if they're faster. Resting at the end is fine but stand aside and let people kick off the wall to turn. Its only a problem when two or more people stand across the whole wall chatting. Its a bit like driving really - no one should pressure you to do the speed limit, just don't cause an obstruction.

There is a pool etiquette poster at our pool that states you should foot tap if wishing to pass.
It is standard at 7.30 for the fast lane to have 3-4 blokes with huge beer bellies take over. They do 2 lengths then talk at the end so that no one can turn/push off. This is on repeat.
They seem to think, because they are big blokes, they must be fast.
Everyone else is squashed in the main pool, as there is no medium or slow lane.
Hope your slow lane went well OP.

If they're fast swimmers and you're slow that's not a very good strategy, just go on the slow lane

How did it go, @BeanNaGealai ?
I'm curious to find out if you found a lot of ppl in slow lane barely moving at all, because they prefer to bobble not swim. That's a nuisance that slow lane swimmers tell me about.

I got foot tapped for maybe first time ever recently, so impressed someone can do that safely.

I think OP already took that on board.

I think if you are aware of other swimmers and what's going on around you, it shouldn't be necessary, especially in the slow and medium lanes.

Anyone touching my foot would soon find out that it's not a wise idea, and they say enjoy your face full of foot🤣🤣 I am very sensitive and my foot would just kick out before I'd even had a chance to think about it.

I don't Lane swim now because I had an accident and had one of my shoulder balls and cuffs replaced, so I need a circle more than a lane 🤣🤣

I’m back swimming for fitness due to an injury. I was a club swimmer in my teens in the 80s. Foot tapping wasn’t a thing then but I’ve tapped the odd foot recently. Never a woman’s foot because they seem to universally understand fast lane etiquette. It’s the men with poor freestyle technique who go in and do 50m “sprints” sets at their top speed, hence they think they should be in the fast lane. I’ve tapped them a couple of times in the last month.