In Other Pool News...

I'm kind of shocked to find that anybody bothered to write an article devoted entirely to swimming pool lane etiquette, but this article in the Washington Post is so on point about it, it's actually entertaining. At least to anybody who has ever done some kind of competitive swimming before or has happened to get stuck in a lane with someone who likes to flail their arms unnecessarily. The article discusses issues at a community 50-meter pool, much like the pool at LMU. To me, the funniest parts of the article are the various shenanigans that lap swimmers will try to get away with in order to keep a lane to themselves, like the retirees who told a lap swimmer that it was "Senior Citizen Swim" hour so that they wouldn't have to share a lane. It may seem petty and ridiculous to someone who isn't in or around pools very often, but things like that happen all the time. The other interestingly accurate aspect of the article was the difficulty in sharing lanes when two swimmers are at completely different skill levels. As someone who has swam competitively my whole life, I've been taught that the proper etiquette when you want to pass someone who is swimming slower in front of you is to tap the person's foot. Then that person is supposed to stop either mid-lane or at the wall to let you go by, then continue swimming. But, as the article states, for people who are casual or beginner swimmers, the foot tap can easily freak them out, which I have personally experienced. I think this article is both entertaining and absolutely dead-on about all the weird etiquette and hierarchical practices that go on at most community pools, that many people are totally unaware of. Check it out! http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/03/09/AR2010030902195.html