Summer is Circle-Swimming Time
As we enter Austin’s sweltering summer, Deep Eddy Pool becomes increasingly popular as a place to cool off, whether for splash-time with friends and children or lap swimming. The appeal can result in overcrowding, with more lap swimmers than lanes to support us.
The solution is lane sharing, and Deep Eddy has a system that makes it easy to share our precious resource. Tommy Dunn recently created a set of durable, easy-to-understand signs to help everyone understand our lane sharing protocols.
SLOW to FAST
As you approach the lap lanes on the North side of the pool, faster swimmers are urged to use the deeper lanes to the left, with slower swimmers moving to the shallower lanes to the right. The extreme far right lane, next to the bulkhead, is set up to prioritize water joggers or slower lap swimmers.
TWO SWIMMERS? SPLIT LANES.
A single swimmer with a lane to themselves is wonderful, but it's a luxury that our pool often cannot provide during the busy summer. When a second swimmer joins a lane, proper protocol is to alert the first swimmer that you’ll be joining them. Wave from the deck to get their attention, or if they are doing flip turns and not watching, enter into a corner of the lane and stand to the side until they notice you. Then each swimmer chooses a side of the lane and swims straight.
THREE OR MORE? CIRCLE SWIMMING.
When people line up waiting for a chance to swim, and each lane already has two or more swimmers, it’s time to “circle swim.” That allows three or more people, but no more than six, to swim together in the same lane. When circling, it’s especially important to use a lane where the others are swimming at approximately your speed. New entrants need to ensure the current swimmers know they are being joined, and that it’s time to switch over to circle swimming.
CIRCLE SWIMMING ETIQUETTE
In addition to alerting existing swimmers that it’s time to start circling, keep in mind:
Enter only from the North end of the pool.
Swim along your right-hand side so the circle continues counterclockwise.
When you need to rest, do so in the corners of the lane.
If the swimmer behind you taps your feet, stop and let them pass at the next wall.
How to circle swim for faster swimmers, for lanes to the left as facing the pool.
Guidelines for slower swimmers to circle swim. For lanes to the right as facing the pool from the North side.