So I try to get in a 3500 yard swim this morning - get to the pool - only 5 lanes - 3 for lap swimming only - the others…well let’s just say the swimming pool scene in Caddyshack - wierd mix of people reading, chatting, basically floating around BSing.
So there is this one guy in the lap lanes - churning em out - and I knew he was nearing the end of his workout so I waited at the end of the lane, ready to jump in. At one stage he even stopped and told me he’d only be a few more minutes - which I thought was cool (the lanes are a little too narrow for lane sharing.
In the next lane is this guy and girl - the guy with swim fins on and one of those aquarobic foam sticks under his belly - they are kicking along side by side (god knows how) having a great chat about work - they obviously worked together or if they were a couple - they were the most unusal couple you could imagine.
Final lap lane - this guy that takes 75 seconds to swim one lap (25 yards) doing freestyle - then every other lap - turns onto his back and arms out like a fairy - kicks along to the other end (90 seconds) - I know because I was timing him.
I politely asked him if he would be long - at this stage there were a few swimmers waiting for a lane to clear.
I should have gone home at this stage.
So the first lane opens up and I jump in - and start cleaning my goggles - only to look down to the other end of my lane and the 90 second guy and another guy who could have been his twin - albiet about 20 lbs heavier at 330lbs -are in my lane chatting.
One of the other swimmers asks if they are simply making their way out of the pool and they respond - that they want to get away from the large woman in the farthest lane because she lives in their community and they don;t like her.
I very politely swim up and ask them if they would mind going back to the lane they were in - as we want to do lap swimming and that this lane is specifically for lap swimming only - it is clearly marked.
Well - you’d think I’d given the both of them speedo wedgies and stolen their false teeth.
The abuse started - “Who are you to be telling us where we can and cannot swim - we are members of this club - you young folks should not even be here on a weekend etc etc etc.”
(I’m not that young at 35)
Meanwhile the people sitting around the pool all start laughing as the 90 second guy gets all red faced and looks like he is about to have a coronary in the pool.
I politely ask him how much longer did he think he would need the lane for so I could get in a workout and share the lane with someone who was lap swimming. (I had no aspirations of being a lane hog knowing people were still waiting)
He tells me about half an hour - and I very politely said,
“Fine, I’ll wait - and please let me know if you need a hand getting yourself out of the pool - perhaps I can lift you over to your chair.”
Not nice I know but it was all I could do to not abuse this guy.
Five minutes later - they decide they are done.
I get into the pool - a woman gets in the other end and we are sharing the lane just fine - at one point a few minutes later we share a laugh about the whole thing.
But here is the kicker…about five minutes after that - one of them gets back into the lane and starts walking the length of the pool - right down the middle of the lane.
I guess when you use the pool at the local gym (National Chain) on a Sunday - you get what you deserve but is there no longer any etiquette in life?
This goes back to a thread where age was the issue - this incident was a combination of age and lifestyle so I won;t single out age as the main factor here.
I stopped swimming and tried to reason with the guy that lap swimming is not what he was doing and that he was interfering with other people’s workouts and swimming contrary to the club rules.
SO he gets out dissappears and comes back with the “Manager” who being the jelly fish that he was (No backbone) supported his side of the situation and said if we (at this stage he was addressing four of us) wanted to do serious lap swimming - we should be swimming somewhere else.
I got out -didn;t say a word and left - I noticed the other lap swimmers also get out.
I know now I will be swimming somewhere else - my gym membership will also be somewhere else.
Oh well - it won’t be long before we are open water swimming again and this will be a distant memory - but fair’s fair…