Swim Etiquette......

I panicked before the Double as I notoriously dislike swimming with other people in a lane (SELFISH obviously!) and I thought I would get very frustrated with having to keep stopping and starting to meet other people's speeds (whether faster or slower) esp as that was the only part of the race I wanted to get a good time in. However, everyone was very courteous and, mindful of the fact it was going to be a long day, even I was fairly relaxed about it.

I am however, a stickler for swim etiquette!! Argh, this can make my blood boil. I am currently reading a blog by Scott Ragsdale (chairman of a company called Naseba and a 2010 Channel Swimmer) which is really helping me climb my mountain of the 10 length swim challenge. I am going to talk about Scott's blog in another post as it has certainly piqued my interest but he does talk a lot about trying not to react negatively to situations and I am trying to follow his example. However, yesterday I failed big time!

I was swimming along doing 200m Pull sets alone by myself in the fast lane. Two women got in at the far end of the pool and blocked my approach to the wall so I couldn't tumble turn. Not wanting to kick and/or splash them I went to do a push and glide turn instead. As I approached to turn however, one of the women stopped me BY TAPPING ME ON THE HEAD HARD TWICE. I was FUMING!!!!!! She stated that I had been swimming in the middle of the lane and asked if I could please pick a side to swim and indicated down the swim lane saying, "It's ok when you're by yourself but not whilst others are in the pool." I explained that until 10 seconds ago I HAD been swimming by myself and of course would've moved once they had got in and set off again swimming in the direction she had indicated. I completed another 50m of my set and reached the other end again where they were still standing. Again, they were blocking most of the lane so not wanting to aggravate by tumble turning between them I again set up for a push and glide. The same woman again TAPPED ME TWICE HARD ON THE HEAD (so angry!!!) and told me I was swimming in the wrong direction. Now, she was quite correct on that point but I had only being trying to swim in the direction she had indicated so as not to cause her any more stress. Muttering under my breath I changed direction and swam off. Anyway, conflicts like that happen in the pool all the time and it wasn't that that I minded so much. The big problem for me was that she thought TAPPING ME HARD ON THE HEAD was a suitable way to stop me. You don't normally rap people on the head to get their attention so why do it in a swimming pool?!

For the record, if you want to overtake someone in a pool, tap twice on the soles of their feet as they are approaching the end of their length. If you want someone to stop, wave your hand at them underneath the water as they are approaching the wall. DON'T TAP THEM ON THE HEAD!!

Ps. I shan't even start complaining about the fact that these women then thought that a good swim set was swimming 50ms and then stopping to chat blocking the wall for others........

Rant over.................. ;)