Triathlon - sharing a lane

I'm used to having the whole 3 lane pool to myself in the morning. now that it's spring the real swimmers have arrived in earnest and I had to share a lane this morning. on this one pass the guy I was sharing with and I both raised our right arms at the exact moment we were passing each other and we kinda punched each other in the right hand. it was really weird. I'm usually pretty good about NOT making contact!

I'm so easily distracted but today I think they helped me go faster and rest less.

You're lucky. The pool I swim in is almost always circle swim, 3 or more to a lane. It makes it hard to swim workouts for sure.

wow, at least we have a limit of 2 per lane

You're lucky. The pool I swim in is almost always circle swim, 3 or more to a lane. It makes it hard to swim workouts for sure.

When I was swimming competitely it was usually 4 or 5 per lane without problems. Of course those were organized workouts with swimmers put in lanes to make things work. I can see how just 3 could be a major problem is people were more or less picking a lane based on jus thow many were already using the lane and ignoring the compative abilities.

I could see the 4th swimmer waiting as I ran to the mens room for a quick p before my last 500 meters and when I got back my lane was still open. I was in the middle and the left lane a slow swimmer, then me, freakin noobie 1 year and still learning, then an obvious lifetime swimmer. the other two were women and I was the only guy. maybe his choice was gender based?

Maybe. Most pools are usuallly organized that the center lanes are for the fastest and the outer lanes for the slower. It's a blessing and a curse when you get more than 2 people. The goal is that if everyone is swimming similar speeds then no need to pass. The reality is that good swimmers swim varied paces and don't rest very often so that sometimes you get stuck behind equivalent swimmers doing easy swimming, or drills or strokes other than freestyle. Where as if a fast person swims in a lane with a person or two who is not as pool adapt, they only usually swim 50-200 yards at a time and they are easy to pass on a strait away if you need to. All in all, more than 2 people in a lane = sucks.

so I was probably a good pick - he rested about as much as me and we were pretty well matched lap for lap crossing somewhere in the middle each time

My gym has a posted policy of up and back if it's two in a lane then circle swim after three or more, but I rarely see it come to that. I always try to avoid the outer lane if I can after smacking my hand pretty good on the lip once.

My gym has a posted policy of up and back if it's two in a lane then circle swim after three or more, but I rarely see it come to that. I always try to avoid the outer lane if I can after smacking my hand pretty good on the lip once.

I've never seen it posted but that's pretty much the unwritten policy of everyplace I've been that have larger pools and crowds. If there's no crowds, one person to a lane. When those are filled, you ask someone to share the lane by splitting it in two. When that fills all lanes, you ask a lane to swim in three or more in a circle.

StanSeven +1.
I've been swimming since I was a kid and am used to many people in my lane at times when in a squad. We just keep to the left ( as we also do on the road here) and it all moves ok. The pool has signs designating which are slow, medium and fast lanes so nobody gets held up or intimidated. Its a 50m pool with which handles lots of sqads and big groups.
Couple of courtesy rules that everyone seems to follow:

No tumbleturns if people are standing at the end
Stand to the side if you do stand up
Only pass slower swimmer when you have lots of space. Otherwise, just cut a lap short, stand up and start swimming back the other way, ahead of them.
If its really busy, move into a slower lane if you're doing breaststroke or warm-down.

interesting rules of courtesy, thanks for sharing

I think our pool has ten lanes with one on the end being saved for general swimming and families. I have never shared a lane not that there haven't been times where I probably should have but I just don't feel comfortable with it. But, most times that I swim there are lanes open and so it isn't an issue.

I generally try to swim on days opposite of our Master's folks. They fill the lanes quick and usually double up as well. If the are swimming in the morning then I'll swim at lunch. That works best for me. I know some areas don't have that option due to few lanes or constant heavy swim numbers but it sure helps me out.