Swimming Etiquette

After 14 years of swimming I have come to learn that there are some unwritten rules for proper lane sharing procedure. Today I encountered a girl who was unaware of the "rules."

This girl didn't even give me a chance to like her. We (my two swim buddies and myself) were in the middle of a set when we noticed an addition to our lane. She was cruising along behind us like she'd been there the whole time. When we stopped at the other end she popped her head out of the water. I assumed she was going to say something to the effect of "I hope you don't mind that I jumped in?" or "Do you mind if I share the lane with you guys?" Instead we got "Are you guys on a club team or something?"
"No," we replied honestly.
"Well, I'm doing a 500 warm up."
"Okay, well we're in the middle of a set," I said. And then she took off. Strike one.

The next offense was just a lack of common swimming knowledge I would assume. She was circle swimming correctly, staying always on the right, but when it came time to do a flip turn she needed the entire wall to accomplish the task. Now a true swimmer can do a flip turn in whatever amount of space is given or not given. I would say she was given at least a foot and a half, which is WAY more than enough, but pushed us over more needing the entirety of the wall. Ridiculous. Strike 2. If she had done this during warm ups at any club meet she would have bruises all over her. No mercy.

Here's strike 3. She refused to yield to us. We were there first and in the middle of an actual set with a send-off, so per the swimming rules we get the right of way. She was to be considered a guest in our lane until we left, but no. She apparently thought she was the Queen of the pool and had us yield to her. If I was still on a club team and still had some swimming gumption I would have pushed off on our send-off no matter where she was. But unfortunately it has been too long and I have become too polite.

I finished the set, pissed off, took off my cap and got out of the pool. I didn't want to take the risk of accidentally kicking her or deciding to do butterfly the moment she swam by me, so I got out and put the kick boards away. My friends decided to do a warm down but I was annoyed, so I sat there and waited. When we were stopped one of the lifeguards, who had apparently noticed our irritated looks and mumblings, came over and said "Don't worry she's a bitch to everyone." Later in the locker room Kyndra asked "How was I supposed to respond to that?" Nod and smile.

If you are going to the pool to do laps, learn the rules. If you don't know the rules, establish them with those who are sharing your lane. Believe me, it will save you some bruises.