Dear swimmers (especially male swimmers), do not GRAB a swimmer's legs or ass (especially a female swimmer) if you want that person to stop at the wall and/or switch to circle swimming!
I swim at a swim club where private membership is multiple hundred dollars a year and open lap swim is $10 drop-in. Two pools, LCM is open for lap swim pretty much all the time and SCY also has some lap lanes most of the time. Pool rules are 2 = split a lane, 3+ = circle; the lanes are not marked for speed, so anyone jumps in anywhere. It is rare to have more than 4 during lap swim, but at masters we can have 12 -15 in a lane without difficulty. I am a solid swimmer and because I tend to swim with my head high (something other male swimmers like to try to "correct" on a regular basis, even when I say no thanks I do not want an impromptu free swim lesson unless you are Andy Potts), I am very good at noticing when someone wants to enter the lane and moving if needed, and at passing without contact.
So this morning I was at the very end of a 4000-meter workout, with the main set 3 x (6x50 fins, 4x200 swim/pull/swim/pull). In the LCM pool, that means I stopped at the entry wall almost all the time. I was alone at the start, but 4 or 5 different (friendly) people came and went, without any issues -- we split with 2, circled with 3. Then on the very last 200, when I went to do the final flip turn, I saw that a new guy who wanted to enter the lane had his feet in the water, so I moved over but didn't stop. And his response was to stand up on the deck and jump in ON TOP OF ME and grab me by both thighs to force me to stop, so he could tell me he wanted to circle.
Seriously, why do men think it's okay to grab unknown women in the pool (when their heads are under water, no less)? This is not the first time I've had to stop and tell a guy to keep his hands to himself in the pool.
Thank you for letting me rant...
Gee
I swim at a swim club where private membership is multiple hundred dollars a year and open lap swim is $10 drop-in. Two pools, LCM is open for lap swim pretty much all the time and SCY also has some lap lanes most of the time. Pool rules are 2 = split a lane, 3+ = circle; the lanes are not marked for speed, so anyone jumps in anywhere. It is rare to have more than 4 during lap swim, but at masters we can have 12 -15 in a lane without difficulty. I am a solid swimmer and because I tend to swim with my head high (something other male swimmers like to try to "correct" on a regular basis, even when I say no thanks I do not want an impromptu free swim lesson unless you are Andy Potts), I am very good at noticing when someone wants to enter the lane and moving if needed, and at passing without contact.
So this morning I was at the very end of a 4000-meter workout, with the main set 3 x (6x50 fins, 4x200 swim/pull/swim/pull). In the LCM pool, that means I stopped at the entry wall almost all the time. I was alone at the start, but 4 or 5 different (friendly) people came and went, without any issues -- we split with 2, circled with 3. Then on the very last 200, when I went to do the final flip turn, I saw that a new guy who wanted to enter the lane had his feet in the water, so I moved over but didn't stop. And his response was to stand up on the deck and jump in ON TOP OF ME and grab me by both thighs to force me to stop, so he could tell me he wanted to circle.
Seriously, why do men think it's okay to grab unknown women in the pool (when their heads are under water, no less)? This is not the first time I've had to stop and tell a guy to keep his hands to himself in the pool.
Thank you for letting me rant...
Gee