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Pool Etiquette (Page 2)
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 2007-07-12 9:57 PM in reply to: #883686 |
Expert 638   |  Subject: RE: Pool EtiquetteBikerGrrrl - 2007-07-12 4:08 PM I always laugh inside at the people who aren't brave enough to ask to share, or give up their chance by not waiting near the lanes (a much riskier method). I also sit with my feet in my lane of choice and wait for the other person to show up so I can ask. Not once have they not understood. I usually say "Can I split with you? I'll take this half if that's okay" just to be extra clear. I also have found that in Minnesota, the Land'O'Passive Aggressive, the person I am sharing with usually gets out after a few minutes. Hee hee. (and no, I'm not taking up 70% of the lane) Ha - I've noticed that too. Once in a great while, when someone asks me to share and I'm near the end of my workout, I say "Sure - jump in - I actually only have 100 more meters to go). Every single time the person just waits until I am done. I hate sharing lanes, though. As a novice, I'm worried about hurting someone else  But I know sharing just comes with the sport. |
| 2007-07-13 9:13 AM in reply to: #883385 |
New user 45 | Subject: RE: Pool Etiquette I do the dangling feet in the water method, then when the person gets to my end of the lane I tell them I'm splitting the lane with them, thanks. But, in the summer, I swim in the lake as much as I can. You probably get a better workout in the pool, but there's plenty of room in the lake. |
| 2007-07-13 11:07 AM in reply to: #883385 |
Member 26 Maine | Subject: RE: Pool Etiquette I am so thankful for this thread. I never knew about the feet in the lane trick. I am slow AND still need lots of improvement on my technique. I've been swimming in the pool at our apartment complex (not ideal), but I can usually flop around in there for half an hour by myself without bothering anyone else. I have a membership to the Y, but until I improve some more, I don't want to annoy the real swimmers. Edited by Tamzin 2007-07-13 11:07 AM |
| 2007-07-13 11:09 AM in reply to: #884694 |
Sensei Sin City | Subject: RE: Pool Etiquette Tamzin - 2007-07-13 9:07 AM I have a membership to the Y, but until I improve some more, I don't want to annoy the real swimmers. If you're in the pool and training for tri's you ARE a real swimmer - don't let yourself think otherwise! |
| 2007-07-13 11:50 AM in reply to: #883385 |
Regular 408 Rhode Island | Subject: RE: Pool Etiquette I learned the feet in the pool trick early on, and usually give the person one look at me. I'll keep my feet in there for one whole lap until after they touch the wall I'm sitting on. Some won't even acknowledge me. To me, the lane is then fair game. On the pool deck wall, there's a sign that says circle swim only. So if the person in the lane ignores me, I just get in and start circle swimming. If they do acknowledge me, I don't give them a chance to say "no, you can't share", I just ask "do you want to circle or split?" and they usually answer one or the other. The other thing that's been insuated but not explicitly said about the feet in the pool hint is to never just jump in the pool and start swimming without the person in there knowing you're there, especially if they're the only one in the lane. There have been multiple times when I get in an 8 lane pool, and a couple lanes are still wide open. But during my workout, they all fill up, so someone gets in my lane and starts swimming at me while I'm still happily zooming right down the middle, which is a little scary to have someone coming at you at that point. And lastly, always get a feel for the speed of the other person in the lane. What annoys me A LOT is when someone slower than me jumps in and pushes off the wall right in front of me, or someone much faster pushes off right behind. Watch for a lap, gauge the speed and push off the wall accordingly. |
| 2007-07-13 12:27 PM in reply to: #883732 |
| Mountain View, CA | Subject: RE: Pool Etiquette cfranck - 2007-07-12 2:42 PM I come from a competitive swimming background and the thought of even needing to ask to share is new to me. It sounds like most people want to be asked, so I will. It's really not a big deal, if they are slow go around them, if they are fast they will go around you. I also come from a competitive swimming background, and asking to share is standard (perhaps it's a regional thing). It's a formality more than an actual question, since almost everyone says "yes," but it's courteous to let the other person (or people) know you're joining the lane. |
| 2007-07-13 12:39 PM in reply to: #883385 |
| New user 12 | Subject: RE: Pool Etiquette Let me rephrase.... I'm fairly new to triathlon and have not done much swimming since high school. On a swim team you share lanes alot and get really comfortable with it. Because I am so comfortable with it, I did not realize that the polite thing to do is ask for permission first. I rarely do need to share, however knowing what I now know I will always ask going forward. |
| 2007-07-13 3:17 PM in reply to: #884881 |
| Mountain View, CA | Subject: RE: Pool Etiquette cfranck - 2007-07-13 10:39 AM Let me rephrase.... I'm fairly new to triathlon and have not done much swimming since high school. On a swim team you share lanes alot and get really comfortable with it. Because I am so comfortable with it, I did not realize that the polite thing to do is ask for permission first. I rarely do need to share, however knowing what I now know I will always ask going forward. Agreed, at practice it's normal just to jump in lanes with your teammates, since it's expected that there might be several people per lane. With open lap swim, when you don't necessarily know the other people and it's not a given that you'll have to share, informing the other person becomes a good idea. Welcome to tri-ing! |
| 2007-07-13 3:29 PM in reply to: #883385 |
Veteran 206 Minneapolis, Minnesota | Subject: RE: Pool Etiquette I'll just add that it is also helpful to be aware of those standing or sitting next to your lane. Once I desperately tried to get the attention of someone who must have really been in the zone with her laps. She was doing flip turns and was completely oblivious to me calling to her, dangling my feet, etc. Finally I just got in the lane and assumed that she would notice me when we passed each other. I was doing mostly breaststroke at this time, so I wasn't worried about us crashing head on. A few laps went by and she seemed to stay on her side, so I figured that she knew I was there. Until we met up at the end of the lane and she nearly ran into me after a flip turn. Turns out that she didn't even notice me in the lane. I don't really know what I should have done differently. It seems like she should have been more aware of her surroundings. (She obviously wasn't a tri swimmer! No sighting whatsoever!) |
| 2007-07-13 4:50 PM in reply to: #883385 |
Pro 4339 Husker Nation | Subject: RE: Pool Etiquette Aikidoman - 2007-07-12 2:05 PM I had a rough start to my swim workout yesterday. I wanted to go straight from my bike to my swim but several bothersome things happened. First, the pool (4 lanes) had a person in them that was just not doing much (compared to my workout). One was WALKING the swim lane back and forth, one was doing a lazy backstroke, and the other two were just doing a lazy back and forth. Now, they were all seniors or very overweight - so they were doing what was good for them (I guess) so I can't get too mad. Second, I was sitting at the edge of the hot tub waiting for a lane (holding my goggles and staring at the pool) when as soon as someone came out of the locker room someone finished and the new person just jumped in after I was waiting for 15 mintues! Anyway - I would normaly just ask to share a lane, but these people were SO slow, I would just run over them on just about every lap. The thought crossed my mind to ask two of them to share because they were both slow and give me a lane, but I quickly decided that would be wrong of me. I also could have stoped the other guy, told him I was waiting for 15 minutes and take the lane - but I decided I didn't want the hassle... I guess this just comes with training and I have to deal with it every once and a while! But I DID have some pretty insulting things to say in my head like "the pool is for SWIMMING!" but I would never say it.... Guess I just wanted to rant! Without knowing the layout of your pool area this may or may not be helpful, but I would have just followed the guy from the locker room straight toward the lane as quick as I could and asked if he cared that we share a lane. That way neither of you really have a "claim" on the lane yet and you both are in agreement about the sharing. Even as a passive-aggressive that's a much easier pill to swallow than dangling your feet in the water and hoping by some miracle the person will acknowledge you. |
| 2007-07-13 6:25 PM in reply to: #883385 |
Extreme Veteran 409 Tampa, FL | Subject: RE: Pool Etiquette I'm totally fine with slow swimmers and sharing a lane (I hate to ask, but I do because I don't have time to wait around). Its the walkers that bug me!! We only have 2 lanes in our gym pool and imo they can walk outside a lane. ugh! Leave the lanes for the swimmers. I've been swimming early morning this summer. The pool is empty and there aren't water aerobics on the other end of the pool! |
| 2007-07-13 11:58 PM in reply to: #883385 |
| Member 17 | Subject: RE: Pool Etiquette I generally try to pick a lane with a swimmer that looks to be moving my speed and stick to the right (circular)--like driving a car. Haven't had any bad experiences yet, and I've had plenty of people jump in my lane without asking, including two water walkers that definitely needed the exercise. The problem with that situation was that they decided to walk side by side taking up the whole lane and hardly moving. Thanks guys. As far as kids go, I usually don't notice them until it's too late, in which case it teaches them to stay out of the lanes. Don't think I've hit the same kid twice. One smart one started throwing water noodles and hard plastic boats in the lane though... What I would give for a private pool. Edited by mkali 2007-07-14 12:01 AM |
| 2007-07-15 2:17 PM in reply to: #883385 |
Veteran 493 Cloverdale, BC | Subject: RE: Pool Etiquette We always swim in circles at my pool. Splitting the lane makes it too difficult for a third person to jump in. Last week there were 8 people in a 25 meter single-wide lane with me. I look at it as good training for mass starts. Its a rush when you are passing somebody, and somebody is passing coming the other way, and you have to squeeze 4 people into the width of a 6 foot lane. |
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