It's easier for more swimmers to share a lane if they have good communications, so we wanted to send this guidance to our lanes and our approaches to common issues!

Order within lane. In each set, please have the fastest swimmer swim at the top of the lane. Swimmers frequently don't know the person behind caught up, so please speak up and ask to swap. Sometimes fast freestylers are slow elsewhere. On sets picking strokes, be aware freestyle is fastest followed by fly then back then breaststroke. 

Stay with your lane. (Or shift!) Once a lane picks a workout, all swimmers follow that workout. Swim the same step your lane is on. That means if you arrive late or fall behind, you need to skip ahead. If you finish early, take a longer break or fill the gap with something short. Two fillers that don't take much space: streamline jumps and dolphin dives. Feel free to shift up/down a lane midpractice even if your shift will make the lanes uneven. If the lanes are already uneven, ask Coach Nils or your target lane if there's a swimmer who might want to swap.

Compatible speed keeps lanes moving better than keeping the number of swimmers even. To a point! We don't want to 8 swimmers in one lane and 3 in another, but it will frequently be best if midpoint lanes (2, 3 & 4) have an extra swimmer or two. If we need a swimmer to shift, it's best if the fastest shifts up or slowest shifts down. Due to late arrivals and day to day variance, it might be easier make shifts partway through or after warmups but definitely before we begin the more intense main set.

Typical speed in our lanes: Although our lanes are fluid and shift practice to practice, here's a description of where lanes generally fall so you can try to pick your best starting lane:

Lane 1 (furthest from the building) is our intro lane. Lane 1 always swims the Beginner workout. In early summer, this lane has swimmers who might only swim two of four strokes. At coached practices, this lane gets the most support on stroke development, which is critical because of the importance of technique in swimming. By midseason Lane 1 looks more like Lane 2.

Lane 2 is a step up from Lane 1. Most swimmers are familiar with all four strokes and fluent in 2+ strokes. Some use flipturns. Most can swim a sustained swim of 200+ yards without stopping. This lane typically swims the Beginner workout but might shift to Intermediate. At coached practices, this lane gets above average support on stroke development. This lane tends to be fairly social and take longer breaks. 

In Lane 3 most swimmers are fluent in 3+ strokes. Swimmers can swim continuously 300+ yards. Most swimmers use flipturns but might mix in open turns for longer sets. This lane would typically pick the Intermediate workout or Beginner with extra repeats or Advanced with fewer repeats. 

In Lane 4 swimmers use flipturns and are fluent in 3+ strokes. Swimmers can sustain a pace below 2:00 per 100 (ex: swim 500 yards under 10 minutes) with some closer to 1:30 per 100. This lane would typically pick the Advanced workout with fewer repeats, but sometimes might pick Intermediate. 

In Lane 5 swimmers are fluent in 4 strokes and can sustain a pace below 1:30 per 100 (ex: swim 500 yards under 7:30) with some significantly faster. This lane always swims the Advanced workout. Because this lane is for more experienced swimmers, this lane uses foot tap as a passing signal. 

Lane 6 is the phantom lane. It must be vacated if pool members wish to swim. Lane 6 varies significantly but usually swims Advanced because that's the closest board. Because it has so much variance, Lane 6 is the best option for swimmers who want to swim with friends who might otherwise be in a different lane.