First Snake Swim

In a pool, the snake swim referes to swimming down the length of the pool and coming back in the next lane, and so on. Practice your turn by swimming under the lane line and keep going. See if you can get people to congregate at the end of the pool to practice going around people, as this usually happens in the race.

Think of a lane pool with all the lane markers. If you're lucky, you'll go up one lane, then under the lane rope and back down the next lane. Repeat until you run out of pool.

If you're not as lucky you'll go up one lane, turn around in the same lane and go back down the lane. Then go under the rope and do the same thing in the next lane.

You're going to run into traffic jams. You're going to run out of lane. You're going to get stuck behind someone breast stroking. Those are the bad ones I can think of immediately.

Take your time and estimate your swim time correctly rather than trying to game it and becoming the traffic jam yourself.

Wow.....this sounds like it might be fun or not so much.....

What is the proper technique or etiquette to pass or let someone pass?


Because the swim can be largely dependent on how well the others "seeded" themselves, should I expect to just chalk up the swim to whatever I get or should I plan to actually race that poriton? 

I'm all about going as fast as I can but I wouldn't feel comfortable swimming over someone one or being "that guy" during the swim given the format. 

Plenty of room in the lane to pass one or even two slower swimmers, no need to swim over them. If the race director doesn't give specific instructions on how and when to pass, then talk it over with the folks in line with you as you wait your start. Let them know that a tap on the foot will let you know that they are passing, and that you will let them pass during the length or at the wall.

Edited by the bear 2009-08-12 9:51 AM

Thanks bear and others for the helpful responses.  Makes sense now. 

Anyone ever run into the "I won't let you pass even though I'm much slower folks"?   What do you usually do at that point?

Thanks for asking this question.  May I add to this as well since I'm getting ready to do my first snake?

Is there any penalty for pushing off each time you go down a lane?  Or pentalites for "not" touching the end of the lane and leaving the lap short?  I would figure ppl would go down half of the lane, then under the rope, then half again, which of course would cut time/distance short.  Didn't know if you have seen people do this or if there is specific rules to prevent this (ex: touch the end of the lane each time).????

The two I have done have had spotters/ watchers at each end of the pool, and most people are pretty honest.
Really important that you give your best/ most accurate time estimate and don't forget taht on race day you will be having a serious Adrenaline dump and be going faster that you think.

So what do you do if you run into people that won't want you to pass, well that's a tough one?  You can try to sprint by on the left but then you get worn out pretty fast.  It wasn't a snake swim but a pool swim (4 per lane for 500 yards) and after 2 lengths of tapping the feet and then hoping they stopped at the wall (which all 4 of us discussed before we started), I finally got irritated and then when coming into the wall for the flip turn, I just started to pass on the left and sort of just crowded him into not being able to flip turn.  Worked just fine and we never bumped into each other.  Plus I really didn't need to sprint so was able to pull away just fine without spiking the heart rate.  If you are relatively the same speed, just say within 5 seconds per lap faster, just hang out and draft.  You may feel like you are being held up but the energy saved from not having to swim hard for the pass, just to save 15-20 seconds total, will be worth it on the bike.

Penalty for pushing off the wall on the turn?  Great question but absolutely not, no penalty.  Use the wall for all it's worth.  The farther you can streamline, the less strokes you have take....  Just don't grab the lane line to advance or walk along the bottom of the pool (if shallow), that would be a no-no.  Holding onto the wall to rest is perfectly acceptable though.  Typically there are a few officials keeping an eye on the swim portion and can fairly easily identify who is cutting the course. 

so just follow the black line, if you feel the tap of the foot, just stop at the next wall and let them pass as it is better to draft than feel like someone is pushing you harder than you want to go.  If you feel bubbles in front of you, swim to you hit their feet (tap) and hope they provide the same courtesy.
Have fun and good luck.

And to re-emphasize:
While you can pass on the left, most of the passing occurs at the walls.  If you've got a situation you can't pass, just wait for the next wall.