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@ewanmac
errr... not sure... I've never really thought about it.
Off the top of my head I'd guess...
First is that for me I think I prefer it when the slower swimmer pulls over to the right hand side to wait as I'll probably be towards the left hand side of the lane and this gives me a clear run at the wall to make my turn. If the slower swimmer stops on the left (i.e. directly in front of me) then I need to suddenly switch course to avoid them. The other advantage of this is that if I'm the slower swimmer, then it gives me the space to double check the gap to the other swimmer and to push off ahead of them if I have space to get another length in.
Second is that if the swimmer is much slower (or hasn't been getting out of the way), and I've decided to overtake, then I'll already be swimming to the right of the lane while passing them and would prefer it if the slower swimmer kept tight to the left.
All assuming clockwise swimming.