The Benefits of Using Swim Lane Ropes

When you swim in a competitive swimming pool, you will notice the lanes are marked with special swim ropes and markers. There is a good reason why these particular swim lane ropes are used. While these ropes can be purchased in a wide variety of colors and styles, all of them serve the similar purpose. Learning what those purposes are can help you decide if you will need the ropes for your pool or if they are unnecessary.

Markings

The most important reason to use swim lane ropes in your pool is to mark off the individual lanes. This serves multiple purposes. For starters, it keeps the swimmers in their own area of the pool to reduce the risk of collisions or interfering with someone else’s swimming. Another primary purpose of these swim ropes is to show swimmers exactly where they are in the pool. This provides every swimmer with an easy way to know exactly where they are headed in the pool so they can concentrate on their swimming instead of where they are.

Keeping Disturbances Down

The lane ropes will also reduce the amount of disturbance in the water that will make its way into the lanes that are immediately next to each swimmer. This means no swimmer is at an advantage or a disadvantage over the others. If these ropes didn’t have their anti-wave properties, the swimmer who is in the lead would not have to fight against anyone else’s waves, while all the trailing swimmers would have to battle through choppier waters. It would also allow the swimmers behind to take advantage of a swimmer’s slip stream, which can provide them with an unfair advantage.

The Look of the Pool

While it isn’t really the purpose of the swim lane ropes, they also provide a certain look to your pool. If you are buying these lane ropes for your team’s pool, you want to choose lane markers that are in your team’s colors. If you will be hosting competitive meets, you may need to choose markers that are in the specific colors as set by the organization whose rules you follow for your swim meets. Before you purchase your lane ropes, it is important to know exactly what you will use them for and whether there are restrictions on the colors you will be able to use. 

Swim lane ropes are a critical aspect to add to your pool, especially if you have swimmers who are training in your pool or you host competitions at your pool. Learning the reasons why these lane ropes are used will help you decide if you need them and if so, which ones you need to purchase. In general, the lane ropes are designed to help swimmers stay on course and to know exactly where they are in the pool at any given time. They also reduce the amount of disturbance that bleeds over into the attached lanes. Finally, the ropes finalize the look of the pool, allowing you to fully customize your pool.