'Pool Nazis' give summer swimmers strife in the fast lane

Swimming pools around Australia are struggling to deal with outbreaks of 'pool rage' as swimmers taking refuge from the summer heat clash with unsympathetic regulars, dubbed 'pool Nazis'.

Some public pools have posted protocol guides to try to smooth relations between recreational swimmers and more serious devotees, who purposefully plough up and down lanes and resent any disruption to their routine.

Australians take their swimming seriously. This is, after all, the country which has produced such swimming champions as Ian Thorpe and Michael Klim, part of the national team which triumphed against the US at the Sydney Olympics in 2000.

Ordinary Australians are keen to emulate their sporting heroes and many public pools are divided into lanes for slow, medium and fast swimmers. Woe betide the uninitiated newcomer who fails to understand the system and adhere to the rules.

Bernadette Young, 29, a recreational swimmer from Sydney, said: 'If you accidentally hit someone or you are going a bit slow in a fast lane the regulars tend to get very antsy. It's more dangerous in pools where there are no lane markings.'

Conflict is sometimes exacerbated by cultural misunderstandings. In Canterbury, a multicultural area of outer Sydney, Australians of Chinese, Vietnamese and Lebanese descent are mystified by Anglo-Australians' enthusiasm for swimming laps.

George Birss, manager of the Canterbury Aquatic Centre, said: 'The Asians and Lebanese tend to see the pool as a big hole to swim around in and they often stray into lanes.