First of all, find out if the pool has it's own rules posted. Rules seem to vary with geography or pool. If not.....here's how it is at my pool.

One person in the lane--do whatever you want.
Two people--split
Add a third--circle swim (down the right, back down the other right, unless you are in in the Southern Hemisphere, then on the left)

If you are the person coming into the lane when someone is already swimming, sit on the side and wait until they get to the end so they know you are joining them. Confirm the split/circle swimming.

If the slow/medium/fast signs are posted, try to get an idea of just what those terms mean and seed yourself accordingly.

If you have to pass or be passed, wait until the end of the lane.

Put your swim toys away when you are finished and don't leave your towels laying all over the locker room (my peeve).

Have fun!

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clm
Nashville, TN
https://twitter.com/ironclm | http://ironclm.typepad.com

Thank you. As always you are a voice of wisdom is a wisdomless world.

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customerjon @gmail.com is where information happens.

Another might be - if you are being passed by a faster swimmer, don't speed up and force him / her into opposing swimmers- let them go by at the next wall. If you are passing, pass in the center of the circle.

Deke

Don't hit peoples toes repeatedly, normally one touch means (in my pool) to pull over and let them pass, you have to options, either finish the length and let them pass, or if its a practice, pull over to the side, and let the rest of the people in the lane pass. If you do it to someone, i normally expect that at the end of the lane they will pull over to let you pass. If someone is doing it to me repeatedly, i'm quite liable to deliver a few swift kicks and a glare as i pull over. In our pools, during lane swim, it is always up one side and down the other according to what is posted, (our pool has red tape on the end that you should be swimming too) if there are only two people, come to an agreement on how to split the lane, and as soon as three people, you have to start going up and down on seperate sides. Keep all your stuff togeather, if there are alot of people in a lane, when you finish a lenght and are done, make sure to touch out, and immediatly move to the side to allow the other people a chance to flip turn. Also, don't congregate in one end, blocking all the wall if people are still swimming, thats another pet peeve of mine.. there is a certain triathlon club at my pool who comes in during a rec swim, takes over a lane, and expects every one to basically get out, and if i'm still in the middle of a set, it pisses me off to no end to see them all at the end blocking the wall, while they discuss the workout they're going to do.

Thanks everyone! One more question. I am the side stroke king but my freestyle needs work. Is the Total Immersion thing as good as it is said to be?

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customerjon @gmail.com is where information happens.

I haven't done a lot with Total Immersion, but the little I have was very positive. Terry is an awsome swim coach (at least in the videos and on paper.) I don't think you could go wrong checking his stuff out. Also, If your starting at a school you may want to see if they've got anybody who regularly coachs, a swim coach could definetly help.



-Gopher the win or go home

I took TI and would highly recommend it. It's not the end all of swimming but it turns poor swimmers into balanced, MOP swimmers and gives you the tools (drills) to self-correct and work on your stroke after the workshop.

TI is awesome for looking at though I wouldn't suggest trying to improve your swimming on just that book. The best way is to get someone who knows how to swim properly to look at you. From my expierences, most of the time when you think your doing a part of the stroke technique you're actually not doing it totally right. Having that person look at you to help you out really helps.

How come no one mentioned taking a shower before you get in to the pool? I hope it's because everyone here has some sense of cleanliness but that's not the case at my YMCA.
I've seen people go from a spinning class and get right into the pool with their bike shorts still on. Our gym won't tell people to shower because they said they don't want to offend anyone.

Why do you split the lane when there's only 2? I don't see the advantage over swimming circles. This seems to be a North American thing, I've never seen it in Australia or Europe. To me it just seems to be asking for trouble because you then need to change what you're doing when someone else gets in, problem being that there's every chance the next person getting may not look and could just assume the two of you are swimming circles already. I find that even if I'm the only one in a lane I'll still swim circles (rather than straight down the middle), because then you're less likely to swim into someone who jumps in the lane without checking out what you're doing first.

By splitting the lane, you do not need to worry about passing the other swimmer. Therefore it is not a problem if you have swimmers of different abilities, or if one person slows or changes strokes. It does, however, increase the chances of collision if one, or both, swimmers drift towards the middle.

Of course, thanks Cottell. I had overlooked the passing thing, that's why I couldn't understand the point. Personally for me having to pass (or be passed) just makes things a bit more interesting (I used to really hate swim training, now I quite enjoy squad training, but pool swimming on my own really requires a lot of motivation at the best of times).

<<it pisses me off to no end to see them all at the end blocking the wall, while they discuss the workout they're going to do.>>

Me too. If you're going to have a ten minute conversation with someone, do it on the deck. I've seen people gab for 20 minutes at the end of a lane. It's funny too, because they'll sit there hugging themselves and shivering immersed up to their chins blabbering away.

Someone also mentioned showering before getting in the pool. Please do. I don't remember all of my water chemistry from my lifeguard days but a head to toe shower with soap helps keep the combined chlorine low (CC's are what cause irritation, from what I remember).

Brett

also, when you are starting your set wait until the swimmer ahead of you is past the flags (which are hanging above the water a few yards out from the wall) at your end before you push off. same goes for another swimmer coming into the wall: your last chance to push off ahead of them is before they pass under the flags. otherwise you should wait until they pass under them again on the way out. basic courtesy so you dont cut someone off or end up drafting off them -- BIG pet peeves:)

Last but not least point of pool ettiquette: people are allowed to laugh at you if you wear your wetsuit for pool workouts.

Just to add.. if they swim the same speed as you, 5 sec is the accepted lead time, if they are slower, and you don't want to end up passing them.. (on this lenght) wait 10 sec..

a certain triathlon club at your pool/ hahahahahahaha

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"Anyone can work hard when they want to; Champions do it when they don't."

its not the one that i swim with, its the one that invades during lane swim..