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The neighbourhood pool where I train is pretty small, only 3 lanes at the best of times. I normally go to the “early risers” adult swim, and the crowd at that hour is mixed but definitely slanted towards the older age brackets. This means that the first two lanes are really slow, leaving me only one choice.

I just wish that everyone would pick their lanes a little more sensibly. The slow crowd spot the 2-3 people moving only about an inch per second so they flock to the middle lane, forcing the medium lane group to switch into the fast lane. Now the “lanes” at this pool are only about half the width of a standard lane, so once the fast lane has 6 people in it going at wildly different speeds, it’s crowded and difficult to pass.

This morning was exceptionally bad. About halfway through my workout, a group of people suddenly switched into the fast lane, bringing our number up to ten! Collisions occurred at the walls, things got chaotic, and I started to lose my cool. I was disgusted enough to cut the session short and walk away.

Please stay aware of your surroundings in the pool. If a lane starts getting too fast for you, move down. If it’s too slow, check out the faster lane before switching: is it the right speed for you? is there enough room for another swimmer? And always look around you when you approach the wall and again before you push off!

It’s not normally bad at my pool. Most of the swimmers are a courteous bunch and there are usually smiles all around. I hope it stays that way.