Have you ever finished a training session and noticed you had some bruises without knowing how you got them?
Swim lanes, particularly when they are packed, can be accidents waiting to happen. Although there are unwritten rules about behaviour in the pool, most swimmers deliberately choose to ignore them and go ahead with their own training session as if they were on their own or even in a race.
But if you want to avoid being hated in the pool, here are the five things you absolutely must NOT do!
1. Swim the butterfly
Your coach has probably included some medley swimming in your training plan, but swimming the butterfly greatly increases the likelihood of you accidentally hitting (hard) other swimmers in your lane. Wait until the people training in your lane have reached the other end of the pool and, if you do have to cross paths, get ready to “miss” a stroke: you will save yourself plenty of insults and curses!
2. Touch the feet of the swimmer in front of you!
It is not difficult to tell whether the person swimming in front of you is slower or faster. Ask them to overtake you and, when they start swimming, do not slap their feet for the entire length of the pool. If you have been the person being “followed” at least once, you will know how…
