How to Practice Swimming Lane Etiquette

Swimming laps competitively or just for some healthy exercise can be quite a rewarding activity for the mind and body. It can however become irksome if each time you swim a length of the pool you are assailed by wild arm strokes or kicks from a fellow swimmer drifting into your space or refusing to let you pass. Don’t be that fellow swimmer who doesn’t follow proper swimming lane etiquette.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

1. Enter a lane suited to your level of expertise. If the lanes are not marked with placards that read slow, medium and fast then take a look at the swimmers in each lane. If you’re a beginner, avoid lanes in which one or more persons seem to be swimming in regimented timed sets or intervals.

2. Jump in the proper lane and begin swimming giving yourself ample time and space between the swimmer heading away from you and the swimmer returning to the wall. There is nothing more frustrating than a swimmer who pushes off the wall only seconds after you or just before you are about to reach the wall. If the lane is relatively full, try to gage what will be the roomiest interval to place yourself in.

3. Circle swim. Most swimming pools follow traffic directions. Head away from the starting wall and swim on the right side of the lane, returning on the opposite side of the lane. Some swim coaches will change up the direction every few swim practices so that competitive swimmers don’t get too used to clinging to the lane line during races (races should be swum in the center of the lane). If you enter a public or community pool but are not sure about the direction, check out whether the existing swimmers are swimming counter-clockwise or clockwise. If you’re the first swimmer in the pool, you may want to set an example and swim counter-clockwise.

4. Stay as close to the lane line as you can manage while swimming in a crowded pool. Drifting into the center impedes the arm and leg strokes of the swimmers in the opposite side of the lane. On the other hand, keep your strokes within the lane. Don’t let your legs and arms flap in the way of swimmers in adjacent lanes.

5. Be polite to swimmers of varying skill level. If the swimmer behind you is continually nipping at your heels, finish the length of the pool and stop at the wall to let him pass. If you find yourself nipping at the heels of the swimmer in front of you, give his toes a polite graze to let him know you need to pass. Don’t use rude gestures. If the two of you are the only swimmers in the lane, you may pass him mid-length if there is ample room.

6. Keep pace. If you cannot keep pace and find yourself lingering at the wall and blocking up space, change lanes.

Tips & Warnings

• Pay attention to how each stroke affects the water and atmosphere of your lane. Because it requires lateral arm movement, butterfly, for example, takes up more space in the lane than freestyle. If you’re swimming backstroke, be sure you’re aware of the placement of other swimmers before you set out from the wall. Keep your breaststroke kicks in check as well so as not to disturb or possibly injure another swimmer.