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POTTS: Writer clarifies some items in response letter

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I do not want to belabor the issue of swimming pool lane usage, but I must help clarify what has been said. In my response (“Disagree about sharing lanes in pools,” Sun City West Independent, April 1, 2020) to the article (“Swimming with courtesy is best choice,” Sun City West Independent, March 18, 2020), I did not say a pool lane could not be used by multiple swimmers. I said they could be, taking into account other factors. I still maintain that pool lanes are configured for a single swimmer. I checked several sources and found that a pool lane should be 2.13 meters (about seven feet) wide. I assume ours are. So yes, there is technically enough space for more than one swimmer. But, when considering the many differences between swimmers, their speed, type of strokes, turning ability, resting, etc., I don’t see compatibility with all the swimmers I have observed at our pools. So, can it be done? Yes, but is there a “policy” that says I “must share a lane if there is not one open?” Not that I am aware of. If there is, it is not posted nor directed in any publication I’ve seen. Further, to say that I have only two choices to respond to an uninvited second swimmer, either “accommodate” or get out of the pool, is ludicrous. No such “obligation” exists. An invite would be at my choice, not theirs. Also, “maximum bathing load” is found in Arizona Administrative Code, Title 18, Article 2, Section R18-5-208, for public and semipublic pools. Our pools are semipublic. This reference has nothing to do with pool lane usage. It directs how to determine the maximum number of people allowed in the pool area at one time. About the same as a public facility’s maximum capacity. It’s not to be exceed and must be posted. I believe ours is. Should this discourse result in the actual establishment of the referenced “policy,” I apologize to all my fellow swimmers who also prefer to swim alone. My only intent was to defend against being classified as discourteous because I prefer to swim alone in a single lane. Dick Potts Sun City West