Lap Swimming Articles - Are Men that Bad?

[4xsama]

Hi All,

I regularly enjoy going to the local pool for a few laps a couple of times through the week and on a Sunday. The aim is to get to 10km/week so I'm in the water for a while each time I go. I generally enjoy the swimming. I'm reasonably quick so swim in the fast lane (laps of 50sec or less/lap) and try to stay out of peoples way where possible. If I cant, I'll stop and let the other swimmer(s) swim by if they are quicker or, if I cant pass effectively, let the other swimmer get a lap ahead and then start swimming again.

I also think I am a decent human (or at least try to be) so I get a little ****ed off at seeing articles like this: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfr ... immers-men (https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/may/07/swimming-sexist-behaviour-british-pools-male-swimmers-men)

I know the pool is public. I know there are faster and slower swimmers. I also know there are people in the pool who are either less aware of their environment or don't care about others enough to show some courtesy to others but are men really that big of a deal in being able to generalise so much as this article does? Sure, I occasionally have issues with both men and women in the pool but at the end of the day I'm in the pool to exercise and relax so I don't want to get wound up.

I also don't really care if someone is faster than me either. I remember on time there was a devastatingly fast young Asian swimmer (female) and I was in awe at how quick she was but also how small she was. She did have a swimming cap on with a Japanese flag on it so that could explain a lot. I should have asked her about her cap but to be honest I was worried about being pegged as a creep so I didn't.

I'd love to get others opinions on this. Sometimes I feel a bit like a pest or predator which is most likely just me.

Cheers

[cripesamighty]

My advice is to keep doing what you are doing, play nice, and don’t take this authors view to heart. Have a look at Ellie’s other forays in the literary world. Some of her stuff is ok, but she can tend to get a bit excited with her agenda of ‘feminism’ and ‘socialism is awesome’ type articles. I have read a few rebuttals of her articles in the past as she seems to get a lot of stuff plain wrong - gender pay gap vs gender earnings gap, etc. Just remember that you are not the target audience so just enjoy your swimming! 😁

[Saulman1010]

Pool rules...Keep left and pick a lane with like swimmers - a lot of pools have dedicated slow/med/fast lanes anyway. Most people will just swim around you. Tough poo.
Ive spent half my life in pools in my younger days, competition at county and state level. Now just for fun.
Someone annoys you or tries to push you out of a lane?....try a couple of fast laps butterfly stroke. That generaly sends them packing[emoji16]
Keep up the good work.

[NavyDiver]

I think you might be take offense from her aim at others not yourself. It sounds like your doing really well by the way with 10km per week. She did say "a small minority of men" - I'd agree with her as I am sure you find at times to. I do not swim as far as you but am fairly quick. The twits who over take then slow to a much slower pace do not get my goat up but I do wonder about the makeovers I see happily rarely like she mentions. Have to add the odd lady swimmer is also guilty of taking up a whole lane at times. Not really a stress on my part and honestly not worth bothering with. Even the odd walker in the fast lane are easy to cope with.

[trout1105]

It's a public pool where other people swim, chill out, cool down or just relax and it isn't their problem how fast or how far you want to swim in a week.
If you don't want intrusions while you swim go to the beach and swim in the sea or get your own pool, A public pool is just that " Public" and they pay the same as you to get there and they are entiteled to swim wherever they want to.

[Eevo]

i always pee in the pool.

[Slunnie]

Hi All,

I regularly enjoy going to the local pool for a few laps a couple of times through the week and on a Sunday. The aim is to get to 10km/week so I'm in the water for a while each time I go. I generally enjoy the swimming. I'm reasonably quick so swim in the fast lane (laps of 50sec or less/lap) and try to stay out of peoples way where possible. If I cant, I'll stop and let the other swimmer(s) swim by if they are quicker or, if I cant pass effectively, let the other swimmer get a lap ahead and then start swimming again.

I also think I am a decent human (or at least try to be) so I get a little pi**ed off at seeing articles like this: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfr ... immers-men (https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/may/07/swimming-sexist-behaviour-british-pools-male-swimmers-men)

I know the pool is public. I know there are faster and slower swimmers. I also know there are people in the pool who are either less aware of their environment or don't care about others enough to show some courtesy to others but are men really that big of a deal in being able to generalise so much as this article does? Sure, I occasionally have issues with both men and women in the pool but at the end of the day I'm in the pool to exercise and relax so I don't want to get wound up.

I also don't really care if someone is faster than me either. I remember on time there was a devastatingly fast young Asian swimmer (female) and I was in awe at how quick she was but also how small she was. She did have a swimming cap on with a Japanese flag on it so that could explain a lot. I should have asked her about her cap but to be honest I was worried about being pegged as a creep so I didn't.

I'd love to get others opinions on this. Sometimes I feel a bit like a pest or predator which is most likely just me.

Cheers
That article is just a load of rubbish written by another femnazi. A waste of electrons. I swim a lot and I have never seen or heard of it and certainly I've never heard from the many females that I swim with anything about what she is talking about. If anything, ALL of the crazies that I've seen going off in the pool, which is rarely, have all been females and it has been pretty venomous but 99% of swimmers are fantastic. Don't feel like a pest or predator, rise above the neo-feminist attitudes and keep doing what you're doing, and if they don't like it then they can go and shave their armpits.

[Tote]

Stop reading the Guardian...........

Regards,
Tote

[LRJim]

Stop reading the Guardian...........

Regards,
ToteWell said Tote 🖒

[4xsama]

Stop reading the Guardian...........

Regards,
Tote

Fair comment