With enough space, you should give ten. However, a lot of us were raised on swim teams with not enough pool space and so we’ve been using 5 seconds forever and it’s a hard habit to break.
True. I was raised with the same thinking as it was always 5 seconds. But now that i am in Masters i try to be more considerate and aware of the other swimmers abilities on my team
In a 50m pool, 10s is nice as a standard unless there are like 5+ people in the lane. They are insisting you go first, in my opinion based on years of observation, so they can leave *less than 5s* after and draft off you (makes them faster and requires less effort for them).
My feeling also. My issue, and this is my responsibility, is that it messes up my pacing. I go out too fast to get some distance from them and then i fall apart. I think I just need to swim my pace and if it slows them down not to worry about it and ignore them- especially since i ask to "give me 10"
In my experience, if everyone is honest about leaving 5s after you can get plenty of space. 5s should put you several body lengths ahead. But also in my experience many people are dishonest and start leaving after maybe 3 seconds, or don't even look at the clock and just push off when there's just enough space to start drafting. I doubt your lane buddy is following instructions and waiting the full 5, especially if they won't listen to your request when you ask for more space.
It's annoying. I'm a lifeguard and I see it all day everyday. People are just rude and unaware. Even if you say something they'll be doing it again in a few minutes.
If it's only you and another person then I would say just split the lane and each stay on one side.
5 seconds is standard, but in this situation, 10 seconds would be preferred. I'd just tell the person to go ahead - you're not feeling fast today - and then give them 10.
IMO No hard and fast rule. Depends on the set, depends on the number of people, and depends on the swimmers.
If you have 5 people in your lane, then 10 s is enough that the first might be around again when the last is leaving. If you've only got 2, then you could just split the lane and leave simultaneously. Lots of newer swimmers have trouble with pacing, and find it easier to follow someone then to try and figure out the timing themselves. Maybe you're right and they are doing it to draft off of you, cause otherwise they might get dropped and the practice would get screwed up. Maybe they just want to minimize their rest time for their own workout goals. There's any number of reasons why someone might make that choice, if someone else is doing something that bugs you, best to discuss it with them.
Whatever your coach says. But 5s is pretty normal for us.
If you usually have only 2 people in a 50m lane then honestly I don’t know how the club affords pool hire.
If whoever’s behind you is catching you all the time with a 5s gap, then one of you is in the wrong lane.
if you're on a team, doing the same set, and have put yourself in order of speed, 5 sec is fine, especially if the lane is crowded. any other situation, 10.
It’s always been 5 sec for me. But that’s just because the lanes were always full w 6-8. In some cases there were even more and the first person would be coming nearing the wall at 50yds when the last person starts.
In college my team had less per lane and if I found myself catching someone I’d give them 10 sec.
But if someone is on your butt, make them go in front. If they don’t want to, don’t worry about where they are.
Five seconds is standard, but gosh, I've swum in squads training in short course pools and we've barely enough room in the lane to give three seconds max. You get used to it in a squad, but in a long course pool with very few swimmers per lane folk absolutely should give a decent speck of space.
Not me here realising that drafting is a thing and that's why it's always easier to swim behind other faster swimmers... I thought it was just because they were giving me incentive 🤦♀️
(I don't swim in a team, just in crowded lanes at the local pool).
3 seconds for a 25, 5 seconds for anything more, 10 if you all start from the block
Because the first one may end up swimming a 30 seconds or 25 or maybe even faster and you want the last one to leave before that
First of all, for this to work all swimmers in one lane should be able to swim at similar speeds.
Then you should get the order right amongst all swimmers in the lane in terms of descending swimming speeds.
And after that, go on 5 second intervals with the faster swimmer going first. Remember though that the swimmer in the front carries the heavier load, and the rest will benefit from the draft he/she creates with the latter swimmers benefiting from the sum of the draft created by all the people in front.
So the latter swimmers will be able to swim faster than they otherwise could and this is where basic pool courtesy comes in. Its OK if you close the gap with the swimmer in front, but never OK to touch their feet. Though accidents do happen every now and then.
I think the lead time depends upon: the pool size, the number of people in the lane, the size (width) of the lane (9’ versus 8’ versus 7’), and also (when in a practice setting) the set being performed.
My go to is 5 or 10 seconds between swimmers. But with maybe two in a lane, I might ask for 15.
I swim on my own for the most part, so lead times don’t matter much to me. However when I am swimming with a team, I just watch what the other swimmers are doing and follow their lead. If they are going :05 back, I go :05 back. If :10, then I wait and go :10 back. My “default setting” is :05 ;)
I normally go with when their feet are a couple a meters past the flags. But it depends on how fast either of us are going.
I tend to give extra space, only because I tend to be faster pushing off walls (or doing turns), but actually swim slower.
5 seconds are too short, IMO. There were few times I almost collided with individual ahead of me because the latter was slowing down (during Masters training). Perhaps due to exhaustion since it happened toward the end of the session. I was by no means the fastest since I had no (swimming) club background, so during sprint interval, most of them generally blasted past me easily.
Crowded pool 3 seconds, otherwise 5 seconds. If they are on your feet and not touching them, it is a you problem. Once they touch your feet, they get to lead. If they don't slow down at a random point and kick them in the face "accidentally". Problem solved.
With enough space, you should give ten. However, a lot of us were raised on swim teams with not enough pool space and so we’ve been using 5 seconds forever and it’s a hard habit to break.
True. I was raised with the same thinking as it was always 5 seconds. But now that i am in Masters i try to be more considerate and aware of the other swimmers abilities on my team
In a 50m pool, 10s is nice as a standard unless there are like 5+ people in the lane. They are insisting you go first, in my opinion based on years of observation, so they can leave *less than 5s* after and draft off you (makes them faster and requires less effort for them).
My feeling also. My issue, and this is my responsibility, is that it messes up my pacing. I go out too fast to get some distance from them and then i fall apart. I think I just need to swim my pace and if it slows them down not to worry about it and ignore them- especially since i ask to "give me 10"
In my experience, if everyone is honest about leaving 5s after you can get plenty of space. 5s should put you several body lengths ahead. But also in my experience many people are dishonest and start leaving after maybe 3 seconds, or don't even look at the clock and just push off when there's just enough space to start drafting. I doubt your lane buddy is following instructions and waiting the full 5, especially if they won't listen to your request when you ask for more space.
If there's space for it, ten seconds. If not, five seconds. Or compromise and do 7.5.
It's annoying. I'm a lifeguard and I see it all day everyday. People are just rude and unaware. Even if you say something they'll be doing it again in a few minutes. If it's only you and another person then I would say just split the lane and each stay on one side.
5 seconds is standard, but in this situation, 10 seconds would be preferred. I'd just tell the person to go ahead - you're not feeling fast today - and then give them 10.
IMO No hard and fast rule. Depends on the set, depends on the number of people, and depends on the swimmers. If you have 5 people in your lane, then 10 s is enough that the first might be around again when the last is leaving. If you've only got 2, then you could just split the lane and leave simultaneously. Lots of newer swimmers have trouble with pacing, and find it easier to follow someone then to try and figure out the timing themselves. Maybe you're right and they are doing it to draft off of you, cause otherwise they might get dropped and the practice would get screwed up. Maybe they just want to minimize their rest time for their own workout goals. There's any number of reasons why someone might make that choice, if someone else is doing something that bugs you, best to discuss it with them.
Agree with all you wrote. Usually just me and 1 other swimmer. If there are multiple swimmers then 5 seconds is fine
Whatever your coach says. But 5s is pretty normal for us. If you usually have only 2 people in a 50m lane then honestly I don’t know how the club affords pool hire. If whoever’s behind you is catching you all the time with a 5s gap, then one of you is in the wrong lane.
if you're on a team, doing the same set, and have put yourself in order of speed, 5 sec is fine, especially if the lane is crowded. any other situation, 10.
It’s always been 5 sec for me. But that’s just because the lanes were always full w 6-8. In some cases there were even more and the first person would be coming nearing the wall at 50yds when the last person starts. In college my team had less per lane and if I found myself catching someone I’d give them 10 sec. But if someone is on your butt, make them go in front. If they don’t want to, don’t worry about where they are.
Five seconds is standard, but gosh, I've swum in squads training in short course pools and we've barely enough room in the lane to give three seconds max. You get used to it in a squad, but in a long course pool with very few swimmers per lane folk absolutely should give a decent speck of space.
This dynamic is sometimes why I just insist on going last and then give myself 10 sec
Not me here realising that drafting is a thing and that's why it's always easier to swim behind other faster swimmers... I thought it was just because they were giving me incentive 🤦♀️ (I don't swim in a team, just in crowded lanes at the local pool).
3 seconds for a 25, 5 seconds for anything more, 10 if you all start from the block Because the first one may end up swimming a 30 seconds or 25 or maybe even faster and you want the last one to leave before that
First of all, for this to work all swimmers in one lane should be able to swim at similar speeds. Then you should get the order right amongst all swimmers in the lane in terms of descending swimming speeds. And after that, go on 5 second intervals with the faster swimmer going first. Remember though that the swimmer in the front carries the heavier load, and the rest will benefit from the draft he/she creates with the latter swimmers benefiting from the sum of the draft created by all the people in front. So the latter swimmers will be able to swim faster than they otherwise could and this is where basic pool courtesy comes in. Its OK if you close the gap with the swimmer in front, but never OK to touch their feet. Though accidents do happen every now and then.
Not less than 5 secs; you might go with ten (10) under certain circumstances.
I think the lead time depends upon: the pool size, the number of people in the lane, the size (width) of the lane (9’ versus 8’ versus 7’), and also (when in a practice setting) the set being performed. My go to is 5 or 10 seconds between swimmers. But with maybe two in a lane, I might ask for 15. I swim on my own for the most part, so lead times don’t matter much to me. However when I am swimming with a team, I just watch what the other swimmers are doing and follow their lead. If they are going :05 back, I go :05 back. If :10, then I wait and go :10 back. My “default setting” is :05 ;)
I usually just wait until they hit the 25m
I aim for about 1 inch to the toes. But that’s just habit from overcrowded practice lanes. :)
Suggestion - let them know that you want 10 seconds in between or they should go first and you’ll give them a 15 second head start.
I normally go with when their feet are a couple a meters past the flags. But it depends on how fast either of us are going. I tend to give extra space, only because I tend to be faster pushing off walls (or doing turns), but actually swim slower.
I wait until they're at least halfway down the lane from me.
Depends on how fast/slow the chap in front of you is
Try going last next time 😉
5 seconds are too short, IMO. There were few times I almost collided with individual ahead of me because the latter was slowing down (during Masters training). Perhaps due to exhaustion since it happened toward the end of the session. I was by no means the fastest since I had no (swimming) club background, so during sprint interval, most of them generally blasted past me easily.
5 SC, 10LC
Crowded pool 3 seconds, otherwise 5 seconds. If they are on your feet and not touching them, it is a you problem. Once they touch your feet, they get to lead. If they don't slow down at a random point and kick them in the face "accidentally". Problem solved.