What is "cutting the lane" in swimming?

Triathlon Forum
1

I started swimming with a masters swim club last week. My fourth swim with them was this morning.

Being the new guy and a little self concious ( I used to weigh a LOT more, you lose the weight but not the skin, on the pool deck I feel like a sharpei in a pack of greyhounds )so, I’m not entirely comfortable to start with.

A bit of context, at my first swim the coach had me swim a couple of lengths while he watched and then told me to swim in Lane 5 ( of 8, where lane 1 has the fastest siwmmers ). Fine by me. On the second swim he told me to move to lane 4 and then as I struggled to keep up he moved me back to lane 5. At the third swim I’m workin real hard to keep up and he stops me and tells me to go a little easier and NOT to move down a lane, stay in lane 5.

Ok, 4th swim, this morning 5:30am, 5 people in my lane, 3 ladies one other guy. Get through the warm up fine and start the first part of the main, 6x200. I realize that I’m the slowest of the 5 swimmers in my lane ( although two of the ladies are doing the entire workout with a pull buoy ) and go last.

In the middle of the third 200 the other guy is on my toes at the wall so I step aside and let him pass, the woman behind me is still more than 5m back so I push off right behind the guy that just passed me. I’m just getting to the wall to start my final 50 and the woman behind me is about 3m back just finishing up her 200, she pops her head out of the water and yells at me, “you cut my lane!! Don’t cut lanes!!”, I’m taken a little aback trying to figure out what I’ve done wrong when the next woman pulls up and says " I’ve got two pieces of advice, don’t cut lanes and if you can’t keep up move down a lane" it wasn’t friendly advice. At this point I have no earthly idea what I’d done wrong, but it must have been really, really bad because these two were reacting like I’d just killed a puppy in front of them. I said, “I’m just swimming in the lane the coach told me to” and meekly moved down a lane.

I’m still not sure what the hell I did wrong, I didn’t physically cut anyone off and never impeded anyone, I let a faster swimmer pass me and left the wall with plenty of room between me and the next swimmer. I read the swimming etiquette rules posted on the all of the pool and I googled for the term and couldn’t find anything.

At this point I’m also wondering if I should be looking for another masters swim club, I want to work hard at improving my swimming but I also want to enjoy it and I didn’t sign up to getting yelled at.

2

I have found that most master swim groups are real jerks and that goes a long way to keep Tri people away from them. I think its some kind of a hold over from high school sports where every one is trying to put down every one else out there. If you have other groups in your area, you might want to visit them to see if they have a more friendly vibe. If not, just roll with the insults and keep your mouth shut. In southern N.J. CGI puts on a free once a week open water swim practice that is very friendly and is very realistic for the Tri athlete. The Fins Aquatic Club in Philadelphia is very tri friendly. Best of luck in training and at the races, Tim

3

Why not ask the coach? You are paying him, after all.

Steve

4

Never heard the term but I reckon she was aggravated because she had to either slow because of you otherwise it disrupted her rhythm. When swimming circles it might look like you are not getting in the way but you might be.

It’s a tough call when this happens because usually the people are stacked up one after the other and there’s no real room.

As to how strenuously she objected, if she was one of the ones wearing the buoy, then her technique is to sit in behind someone her speed and draft-draft-draft. I swim with a couple of guys like that. Once we were at a workout with just two of us in the lane, he tells me he wants to circle swim, huge - competition size lanes and he wants the opportunity to draft off of me.

Look and see if she kicks while using her pull buoy, that’s another good technique that these folks like to use.

Oh, lastly, some people are just jerks - women included. I think most masters groups have them.

Don’t sweat it.

5

If you got caught 100 into a 200, and the woman in 2nd position was only 5m or so behind the guy who caught you, then she was going much faster than you and had to slow down quite a bit on the next length. You cut her off by pushing off in front of her.

It takes some practice to recognize when to stop and let others go by. If everyone else in the lane is of similar speed (other than you), then once you are caught on an interval, you should let them all go by.

Don’t know exactly what “don’t cut lanes” means, though.

6

I have no idea what the women meant either but I’d look for another program to swim with. I have no swimming background and as I’ve moved up lanes in my masters program and started swimming with those who have been swimming since high school I’ve had a few of them point out things I was doing wrong that I had no clue about but they’ve always done so nicely. Like for some reason it always bugs true swimmers if I ease up before I touch the wall at the end of a set. Apparently this teaches you to let up in a race when you should be going at your hardest. I keep trying to explain that I don’t do swim races, I’m just a triathlete, but I get the same lecture everytime I slow down before touching the wall at the end of a set.

7

Masters swim clubs can seem very exclusive at first. People like their lanes to have the same people every day and everyone to know their place in the line-up. The new guy is seen as a bit of a threat to the dynamic. Just keep going, be friendly, and things will get a lot better. You’ll soon know exactly where you should be in the line-up when you are swimming, pulling, kicking, etc. and issues like these will disappear. Don’t give up yet!

:slight_smile:

Jodi

8

I’m not sure what that term means. I swam competitively for 15 years from age 7 through college, and I have never heard that term. With that said, a full lane with a good synergy and chemistry is a beautiful thing. IMO those ladies should learn how to pass someone. I love full contact swimming; it really gets the adrenaline going.

9

If you pull up 2 feet out, then the person behind you pulls up 4 feet out, then 6 feet for the third person, then the coach loses 8 hairs from his head.

10

I’m guessing she might have said, or meant to say, “don’t cut the LINE”. As in, don’t cut into the pace line once it is going. She might have started a little behind the guy who had been behind you, knowing she was going to try to close the gap by the end of the distance. You then cut the line, and messed up her workout.

Like I said, just a guess, and in any case that is no excuse for her being rude. But like others said, you should probably wait until they all pass should that happen again.

Paul

11

ahh… swim master elites. all winter the masters group overstayed their time. Got sick of it after waiting 15 minutes (the pool is only open for an hour after that), caught the coach’s eye, pointed to the clock and jumped right in. They were pissed, but I’m still the workingman’s hero to everybody else over there

12

I have no idea what the term “cutting the lane” refers to, but one piece of advice from my swimming days:

Even if you find that you’re slower than someone else in a lane and they’re coming up on your feet, don’t stop at the wall to let them pass. I realize that you are trying to be courteous, but in truthfulness you’re just creating more confusion and difficulty for the person(s) behind you to pass. It’s a lot easier to pass slower swimmers while circle swimming as long as the slower swimmer keep circle swimming and their movements are consistent and predictable. Just make sure to stay as close to the lane lines as you can to allow the passer to zip around you down the middle. The turns can be tricky - either move over to the opposite side before the turn if they are still a couple of yards behind you, or stay right if they’re already starting to pass you so they can complete the pass through the turn.

Just takes time and practice to get a feel for the synchronized dance routine that we call circle swimming. I applaud you for joining a master’s team and best of luck!

Chris

13

Some people like to dominate swimmers who are worse than themselves. There was this fat girl (well kind of obese actually) in the pool who was a fast swimmer too. I was doing hard 100s sets and whenever she had a chance she just picked it up to pass me and destroy my workout. No it wasn’t her own rythm, I got out of the pool and timed how fast she normally goes and she was obviously just trying to pass others to feel better about herself…

14

Sounds like the group caught you and you should have let them all pass. This lets the group keep their pace without the next person having to slow down before passing you on the next wall. If you do get lapped/passed again, let them pass and finish as they do, (do a 150 not the whole 200). That will give you a chance to catch your breath and keep up with them for the rest of the set. Stay in the lane your coach assigns you to. He must see potential and as you progress you will be able to stay up with them.

15

Should the women in question not just have tapped his feet. I thought this was the usual etique to let someone know you are behind them and want to overtake?

16

You ease up! Stop–Unless you’re swimming in front of someone who makes it a game to leave 5 seconds after you and catch you on every repeat and touch your toes 20 feet from the wall, but won’t ever, ever lead the lane. Then, it’s quite OK, once the foot touch happens to change strokes from freestyle to breast stroke.

For the OP:

If you’re getting lapped in a 200 and you’re the last person, either put the hammer down and don’t get lapped, or let the faster people go by.

I got yelled at for a similar offense during my first practice–I didn’t take very kindly to it. You’re not there to be yelled at, you’re there to learn, push yourself, and have fun. Don’t let some mean women with toys between their legs ruin that for you.

Laugh at her.

17

“I’ve got two pieces of advice, don’t cut lanes and if you can’t keep up move down a lane”"

My response: “why don’t you move up a lane, and o yeah…go f yourself while your at it” LOL…

18

No clue what the term means (I swam in high school), but the advice I got a few weeks ago at with one of the master’s teams I swim with was “never stop during a set”. If they are significantly faster, they should be able to pass you. If you are going too slow during a set, then either re-shuffle during the break, or if you do stop, let everyone by, unless there’s a huge gap. To boil it down, make them pass you if you get caught in that situation. IMO, the girls were b*tches about it.

Congrats for jumping into masters swimming, keep it up, after a few weeks, you should see great improvement, and hopefully you’ll be swimming in a faster lane than the others. Don’t be afraid to look for another program either.

19

ahh… swim master elites. all winter the masters group overstayed their time. Got sick of it after waiting 15 minutes (the pool is only open for an hour after that), caught the coach’s eye, pointed to the clock and jumped right in. They were pissed, but I’m still the workingman’s hero to everybody else over there

HAHA

Yes, the Master’s guys do the same at our pool. It’s OK for them to stay in our lane to cool down but they get bent if the coach tells a couple of us that we can get in early to warm up in their lane.

20

I like what you said better
.