swimming

Lap Swimming Etiquette

Lisa Eirene

About Lisa Eirene Lisa lost 110 pounds through calorie counting and exercise. She swims, bikes, runs, hikes and is enjoying life in Portland, Oregon. Her weight loss story has been featured in First Magazine, Yahoo Health, Woman's Day and Glamour.com.

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26 Comments

  1. Beth @ Beth's Journey to Thin

    I love to swim but don’t do it nearly enough. It’s such a nice break from running since it puts no stress on your joints, plus your heart pumps hard while doing laps!

    1. hundredtenpounds

      I firmly believe that my swimming prepared me to make an easy transition to running!

  2. Skinny Emmie

    I hate water joggers in the lap swim lanes, especially when there is a huge section that they can use to do their work.
    Something else I hate is when people don’t want to share the lane with you. If all the lanes are taken and there’s nowhere else for me to go, don’t huff and puff when I join your lane.

  3. Marci

    Totally agree with Beth’s comment! I am a new swimmer and was unsure of etiquette of how to share until I started asking people. I just get annoyed when people don’t stay far enough on their side when splitting.

    1. hundredtenpounds

      Marci-that annoys me too. I really hate being pushed into the ropes.

  4. Suzanne

    VERY useful information, none of which I knew before. You great by the way!

    1. hundredtenpounds

      Thanks Suzanne! Some of the tips I learned through trial and error at my pool. 😉

  5. Joanna

    Thanks! 90% of this was news to me – luckily I haven’t run into the issue of sharing yet, but I will soon since classes are starting

  6. Theresa @ActiveEggplant

    I’m ultra slow and really have no endurance in the water yet…which means I’m still too nervous to share a lane! If there’s nothing open I find another time to swim.

  7. Ivie

    I love swimming and was on swim team in high school. I wish I could find a pool nearby that doesn’t cost an arm and a leg, or a gym that has a pool, they are all too far away. You are lucky to have one nearby.

    1. hundredtenpounds

      What kind of swim team were you on? I did synchronized swimming in high school. LOL

  8. Amber from Girl with the Red Hair

    I used to be a lifeguard and swimming instructor so people not following the rools at the pool really irk me! Luckily, I tend to swim in the mornings when the pool isn’t stupid busy!!

    1. hundredtenpounds

      Agreed! Going at off times is the best bet!

  9. Joanne @ mostlyfitmom

    Around here, it’s rare that I don’t have to share a lane. Usually that’s not a problem. However, there always seems to be someone – I’m assuming someone who doesn’t swim a lot – that can’t follow the rules. Last week, I was sharing a lane with another woman, and then there were two people sharing the lane over, so we were all swimming circles, with everyone swimming down the centre in the same direction. And then some guy jumped in and decided to start swimming down the middle between the 2 lanes, against the direction the 4 of us were swimming in. I just don’t get it! *sigh*

    1. hundredtenpounds

      Oh that would have made me mad too! Idiots!

  10. Julie

    I just found your blog through the Healthy Living Blogs site and it looks like we’re both local to Portland AND frustrated with rude people in the pool!! Just last night I had some guy jump right into my lane to cool off from the sauna (TWICE!) and I almost ran into him (TWICE!). I snarled at him the second time and he’s lucky he didn’t come back because I had my karate chop to his head all planned out!

    1. hundredtenpounds

      Hey fellower Portlander! Thanks for checking out my blog. I would have been really frustrated with that guy at the pool too. I have no problem saying “What the hell are you doing?” 😉

  11. Jenny

    I was a competitive swimming for 15 years. I even swam at high stake swim meets that Olympians participated in. I myself am not an Olympian but if I could cut about 5 more seconds off my 100 Free time I might have made it. One thing that annoys me when swimming is people who say they want to circle swim and swim down on the right side of the lane and then back on the left. It should be the other way around. Down on the right and then back on the left.

    Have you ever thought of find a master program through USS swimming. You will not find these problems there.
    ~Jenny

    1. hundredtenpounds

      I haven’t looked into a Masters program yet. I’ve thought about it though.

  12. kate

    love this! its key to ask if they want to split or circle swim.

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  14. Janet Johnson

    Please, people entering a lane should’t start swimming until all in the lane know they are there. I have had the bad experience of swimming in a lane alone and meeting head-on with a swimmer who just jumped in and started swimming. Freestylers swim with their heads down and many times don’t see people on deck, but will see them (usually at the wall during a turm) at the wall. So, new swimmers should enter the pool carefully and wait at the wall until acknowledged.

    1. Lisa Eirene

      Yes, that’s a good reminder!

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