Pool Etiquette

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Solomonre0
Solomonre0 Posts: 143 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
Hey there, this is a mild rant and question all in one.

I was doing laps in the pool today. I was on my last lap, when out of nowhere this girl just swims right by me, in my lane almost hitting me. Scared the *kitten* out of me and I swallowed a bit of water. Now personally I would've just gone to the other section of the pool where there's no lane lines but you can still do almost a full lap without interruption and waited until one of the lanes was empty. Or waited for a swimmer to stop and ask to join the lane.

I'm curious what "pool etiquette" says on this matter. Do any of you know?

Replies

  • Contrarian
    Contrarian Posts: 8,138 Member
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    I just know that peeing in the pool is poor etiquette.

    I suspect, however, that what she did is frowned upon by Poolies.
  • dlei456
    dlei456 Posts: 201 Member
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    Hey there, this is a mild rant and question all in one.

    I was doing laps in the pool today. I was on my last lap, when out of nowhere this girl just swims right by me, in my lane almost hitting me. Scared the *kitten* out of me and I swallowed a bit of water. Now personally I would've just gone to the other section of the pool where there's no lane lines but you can still do almost a full lap without interruption and waited until one of the lanes was empty. Or waited for a swimmer to stop and ask to join the lane.

    I'm curious what "pool etiquette" says on this matter. Do any of you know?

    Sigh. How obnoxious!!! She should have definitely waited to ask you. I would have never done this, but some people act like they own the pool! Grrr...
  • dcfl2012
    dcfl2012 Posts: 53
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    The swimmer that joined your lane should have asked first !!! These are our pool rules where I work...Duke Center For Living :)
  • Fit4Vet
    Fit4Vet Posts: 610 Member
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    :noway: No. No sharing in pool lanes. No that was way rude, esp. if you didn't ask her to join. What did you do?
  • aWashCloth
    aWashCloth Posts: 198 Member
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    I know at the rec center I work at, the Lifeguards are very strict about getting people out of the lanes who are not actually doing laps. (Our clientelle gets very upset if this is not upheld. My lifeguard friends have lots of frightening stories about being yelled at.) People are always allowed to join lanes (there is a casual lane, slow lane and fast lane so you take what you are swimming at)

    Pool etiquette is pretty strict when it comes to that, but most other stuff they have to be laid back. (If a lady comes in without a top in.. we are not really allowed to say anything about it)

    Anywhere outside of lanes is pretty much free game.
  • lor007
    lor007 Posts: 884 Member
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    I don't know how to swim. Sorry, I am no help here.
  • IronmanPanda
    IronmanPanda Posts: 2,083 Member
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    Generally when you are going to share a lane you dangle your feet in the end to let the person who is swimming know you're getting in. If there are already two people in the lane then there needs to be an acknowledgement to start swimmng in a rotation. If she did not announce herself it is not only rude but also dangerous.
  • Apazman
    Apazman Posts: 494 Member
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    it is customary to ALWAYS ask the person if they wish to share a lane. I personally hate doing this as I do a 1 full lap of each, Freestyle, backstroke, breast stroke, and sharing a lane limits you to freestyle.
  • IronmanPanda
    IronmanPanda Posts: 2,083 Member
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    :noway: No. No sharing in pool lanes. No that was way rude, esp. if you didn't ask her to join. What did you do?

    Sharing lanes isn't a yes no thing. You are pretty much going to share if all lanes are full, just announce it first.
  • ohpiper
    ohpiper Posts: 729 Member
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    It depends on how many people are sharing a given lane. When there are two people, one person swims on the right side of the lane, other person takes the left side. That way each person can swim at his or her own pace without interfering with the other. If you are starting after the other person, it's a good idea to let the person know you're getting in so that you both know to keep to your respective sides. When three or more people need to share a lane, it gets to be more of a mess because you have to simply follow each other, going up on one side and back on the other side of the lane. Hopefully you can grab a lane at a time when there isn't someone who is all over the lane so that you can get in your whole workout.
  • ilookthetype
    ilookthetype Posts: 3,021 Member
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    :noway: No. No sharing in pool lanes. No that was way rude, esp. if you didn't ask her to join. What did you do?

    Sharing lanes isn't a yes no thing. You are pretty much going to share if all lanes are full, just announce it first.

    This. If the lanes are full sharing is happens, generally there is an agreement before hand, but it's cool to share lanes.
  • Solomonre0
    Solomonre0 Posts: 143 Member
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    Thanks all! I thought this was unusual but I wanted to make sure I wasn't just being overly sensitive. Since it was my last lap I just finished and left. When she turned around I kinda smiled at her to make sure she knew she didn't kick me out. I wasn't happy with it, but figured two rudes didn't make a polite. My husband saw this and said he was half tempted to jump in and do a really slow backstroke in front of her so she couldn't pass. He was more angry about it then I was.
  • sunkisses
    sunkisses Posts: 2,365 Member
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    I hope you held her head under just long enough to give her a scare. :wink: She won't share a lane again with you after that.
  • swimmchick87
    swimmchick87 Posts: 458 Member
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    I worked at a pool for several years. Although it is polite to ask/plan out how you'll swim in the lane together, we had very strict rules saying that people must share lanes. You cannot tell someone "no" or to wait. If there were two people in the lane, it was expected that each person stay on one side of the lane. If there were three or more, they were supposed to circle swiim.
  • firewatergoddess
    firewatergoddess Posts: 16
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    I swim on a team and each practice is different and in each lane we all have strengths and weaknesses so sometimes we need to pass proper etiquette when wanting to pass is to tap the person on their foot, the slower swimmer when they reach the wall lets the faster swimmer pass. And when I swim at the public pool it is the same there too. you never cut infront or swim past. I would have stopped her and gave her a lesson on pool etiquette. It dangours even with the pool etiquette, I know people who have broken toes hitting someone in the pool. Not me not yet.
  • Fit4Vet
    Fit4Vet Posts: 610 Member
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    :noway: No. No sharing in pool lanes. No that was way rude, esp. if you didn't ask her to join. What did you do?

    Sharing lanes isn't a yes no thing. You are pretty much going to share if all lanes are full, just announce it first.

    This. If the lanes are full sharing is happens, generally there is an agreement before hand, but it's cool to share lanes.

    Pardon me. I stand corrected. To the OP, sorry for giving you wrong info.
    We live in a small town & the only people to ever share lanes are the swim team & I'd rather watch them swim as they look like it's choreographed! Beautiful.
    Everybody else just waits their turn.
    Thanks for teaching me something new! :smile:

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