How do you deal with a slow non-stop swimmer in your lane?

[swimmerlady]

There is a swimmer in our pool whose appearance is "dreaded" by many of us.

What's the best way to deal with such a fellow swimmer?

Pull out your kickboard and do a long kick set! Sometimes that is all you can do with a slow lane........even if you end up kicking faster than they can swim, you don't have to pass as frequently. You'll keep your heart rate up and your blood pressure down.

However, I don't understand a few things that are happening in your lane. First of all, swimming 3 parallel in a lane sounds insane...you need to circle with more than two swimmers.

And second, why are you standing at the wall waiting for her to stop and let you go? Why don't you push off and go before she gets there? There are lots of ways you can adjust your workout to make the best of what shows up in the lane.

[FindingMyInnerFish]

Turn in the middle of the pool so you can position yourself just in front of the swimmer and at least get part of your swimming done at your preferred speed. It does work better LCM than SCY, though; and it does screw up your own workout.

I've also bagged my plans for fast intervals or other swims where my swim times were important and did drills/kick/offstrokes until the offender left.

I have encountered some swimmers in public lap swim who are 2:30/50y with a wide scissors kick and flat arm recovery "freestyle". They are impossible to pass or even tap their toes without risking injury. It hurts even watching their technique.

One facility "solved" this type of complaint by putting up signs limiting swim workouts to 15 minutes !!

It is a very strong argument for training in an organized workout (USMS workout) or shifting your workout times. The folks who swim 6AM are an order of magnitude better caliber than those that swim at 6PM at the fitness club I sometimes swim at.

Good suggestions about doing drills when an incompatible swimmer is in one's lane. I have also found that sets of short sprints (25s/50s) are good b/c I can then recheck often to see if another lane has opened up or if the mismatched swimmer has left. I can also then pretty much take a look down the lane to get a sense of when to start and whether there's a "straight shot" path I can thread past the other swimmer. If I'm doing something w/ distance, I commit to it longer and thus don't have a chance to keep an eye out for a lane opening so that I can make the switch before I lose my chance.

Fortunately, of late, I haven't had too much of a crowd during my swim periods.

Had a nice response yesterday from a swimmer in the next lane (the pool was uncrowded so we each had our own lane). The gent was doing a head-up Weismuller type stroke, and I was doing some 50s. At one point, while we were both pausing at the wall, the man said, "Wow, you must be a pro!" Well, truth to tell, Michael Phelps can do a 100 and then some before I finish a 50 (right now I'm chasing a "blazing" 55 seconds), but it was still a sweet thing to hear!

In between a couple repeats, I noticed that the man was trying to swim as fast as he could, and so figured he deserved some encouragement. "Not bad!" I said to him--and gently asked if he'd like to try it putting his face in the water--that it might make swimming a bit easier. Then I showed him the breathing. He said he hadn't ever learned the breathing, so was very appreciative and thanked me.

Fortunately, the sparsity of swimmers allowed for us each to do our own swim. I can feel as frustrated as anyone when I'm in a lane with someone who is unaware of pool etiquette and whose swimming style is incompatible with mine, but I'm grateful for experiences in which swimmers at different levels can give each other a boost. Heck, how many times does anyone call me a pro in the pool! And I was glad I could offer a little help to him.