Swimming Pool RAGE!

Squidgeypaws007
Squidgeypaws007 Posts: 1,012 Member
edited December 16 in Fitness and Exercise
So, I'm not prone to road rage (well, only a little bit) or any other kind of rage in general (well, not often) but today, I experienced POOL RAGE. Now I've only experienced this once before, and I shan't go into it....it's too painful to remember.

Anyway, the point. (Well, I rarely have a point but I'll try my very very best for you). The point. Lane swimming. Now, the pool I swim at has three lanes, slow, medium, fast. Because I can be overtaken by a three legged dog which is missing it's head, I choose the slow lane. And in this slow lane, people just go up and down .... not the clockwise or counter-clockwise you'd expect. Anyway, when in Rome (eat ice-cream, but that's not what I did). So, because I go backstroke (I just do ok, because I like it :p) I choose to go up and down nearest the side, so I can chart my couse.....or swim in a stright line, to be more precise. Anyway, an hour into my swim the first person I've seen doing backstroke gets into the pool. She chooses to go up and down next to me. She has no idea where she is going and I end up with many scratches on my face and arms as she passes me (and once, once I even passed her! Woah!).

Anyway, after the six scratch I stop her as she gets to the end of the lap and just mention that she's actually leaving marks on my skin from the times she's hitting me (I mean, once she passed me and just kept smacking my arm instead of moving over - I would have gladly but was already squished against the side of the pool). I offered her my position at the side of the pool, as it helps me go straight (and not assault people as they pass). She seemed quite offended by this (I didn't mention the part about assaulting people) (but DID stop hitting me).

So, the point, finally: was I rude for stopping her and asking her to move over? And was that the best way I could have handled it? If not, how do you think would have been better?

Replies

  • naseak
    naseak Posts: 98 Member
    I see nothing wrong with how you handled it. She should have apoligized for hitting you. Maybe she was embarressed and got defensive.
  • hottiebikerchick
    hottiebikerchick Posts: 187 Member
    she wouldnt have had 6 times with me!!!! You handled it beautifully.....
  • Squidgeypaws007
    Squidgeypaws007 Posts: 1,012 Member
    Thanks! Yeah she did seem a bit like "well you came over onto where I was" about it (which could be true, but I'm pretty sure wasn't as i touch the side of the pool on every stroke to ensure I'm going straight!)
  • Squidgeypaws007
    Squidgeypaws007 Posts: 1,012 Member
    Hehe, thanks Hottie ;)
  • froeschli
    froeschli Posts: 1,293 Member
    Hmm, I think I would have yelled at her before asking her to move over...
    But then I have no patience for ignorance, and you can't tell me she wasn't aware of hitting you...
  • rml_16
    rml_16 Posts: 16,414 Member
    I think you handled it fine. Honestly, I've encountered some incredibly rude behavior in pools. I've had people ask to share my lane (as they see I'm not going very fast) and then swim like they're racing and I end up with a face full of water and finally leave the lane I WAS IN FIRST just so I can avoid drowning.

    And that's probably the least of the rude behavior. I try to go during more quiet times.
  • BrianSharpe
    BrianSharpe Posts: 9,248 Member
    If someone is following decent pool etiquette the only contact should be touching your foot if they're planning on passing, sometimes incidental contact is unavoidable but six times?? You were far more patient than I would have been.
  • nammer79
    nammer79 Posts: 664 Member
    Your a better person than I am
  • melsy21
    melsy21 Posts: 193 Member
    I'd be upset with that lady too. I can't tolerate rudeness anymore as I'm getting older. You handled it beautifully squidgey :)
  • wellbert
    wellbert Posts: 3,924 Member
    You were extremely polite. But next time: falcon punch.
  • pomjt
    pomjt Posts: 47 Member
    you were fine hunni ...i would have stopped her much earlier lol
  • Squidgeypaws007
    Squidgeypaws007 Posts: 1,012 Member
    You were extremely polite. But next time: falcon punch.

    LOL!!! I did consider giving her a good kick as I passed at one point, but I refrained....just ;)

    Thanks for the feedback everyone :) I'm not a long standing pool user, and it's not the rudest behaviour I've seen, but it certainly tops it for personal contact. Incidental touches as you pass I can understand, but as Froe mentioned, there was no way she couldn't have known she was hitting me.....especially the time I was passing her and she hit me serveral times!

    Guess some people never really learn how to be courteous to other users!
  • Squidgeypaws007
    Squidgeypaws007 Posts: 1,012 Member
    And I'm glad to see I'm not just being intolerant.....my hubby always says I should just use a different lane.....but I don't think he gets just HOW slow I am, lol.
  • bonthomas85
    bonthomas85 Posts: 39
    nice to see other people who get swim rage!! you definitely handled it better than I would of I tend to act like a child (i hate being splashed) so clearly splash that person back and then do the fake oh i'm sorry did I splash you!!!????? immature I know but hey!! xx
  • Squidgeypaws007
    Squidgeypaws007 Posts: 1,012 Member
    Haha Bon.....I have to say, there have been "incidents" with people being splashed.....

    like a couple of weeks ago had a similar incident with the most inspid looking woman who kept drifting over into my path and cowering if I clipped her.....she may have been splashed...
  • Balice57
    Balice57 Posts: 125
    Good grief! Some people just didn't learn any manners, and haven't pick up any on the way. Well handled.
  • VAgal123
    VAgal123 Posts: 35
    OK...first and foremost...you almost made me wet my pants! Three-legged beheaded dog? Hahaha! Secondly, as my daughter is on a competitive swim team and routinely shares a lane with 3 other people...you were extremely polite. Her team mates would have grabbed an arm or a leg and yanked the offender under!
  • lorac321
    lorac321 Posts: 614 Member
    You are too nice. They would have been scraping her butt of the side of the pool after the second time she touched me.
  • blandwriter
    blandwriter Posts: 50 Member
    There is such a thing as lap swimming etiquette. If someone gets into my lane, that person is making a silent pact with me to respect me, just as if I get into someone else's lane, I am making a pact to respect the swimmer who was there first.

    The last time someone violated the pact--she gave me a hard kick in the leg as we passed--I got out and went to another lane. And I let her know in the dressing room that I didn't appreciate her behavior. A few months later, I almost ran over her *kitten* when she was jogging halfway in the right lane near my apartment. Some people are just *kitten*.
  • mbts08
    mbts08 Posts: 284 Member
    Good grief! Some people just didn't learn any manners, and haven't pick up any on the way. Well handled.

    AREED! Everyday and everywhere there are rude and inconsiderate people :mad:
  • Squidgeypaws007
    Squidgeypaws007 Posts: 1,012 Member
    OK...first and foremost...you almost made me wet my pants! Three-legged beheaded dog? Hahaha! Secondly, as my daughter is on a competitive swim team and routinely shares a lane with 3 other people...you were extremely polite. Her team mates would have grabbed an arm or a leg and yanked the offender under!


    Haha, now THAT is a good idea :-D

    And I agree Bland, I'm glad to see I'm not the only person out there who thinks that.....ya know, I was there for an hour before her without being assaulted once.....so obvs, not me being the problem, lol.

    And LOL Lorac XD

    Sadly agreed on the no manners guys, guess some people were either never taught any, or never cared enough to learn any!
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