Smart Swimming Or Just An Ass
I sometimes marvel about how little people care about their own safety, about anything, let alone when it comes to swimming. surly it should be easy to see that smart swimming is swimming safe?
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| Woman Swimming Freestyle |
As a lifeguard, a simple thing like asking people to move lanes because they are either going too fast or too slow for that lane can end you up with a torrent of abuse. But even the blind guy that swims at our pool could see that it is just not safe to swim in a lane that is not suited to your pace of swimming.
Banged heads, kicked noses, even dislocated hips are just some of the injuries that I'm trying to avoid. And what sort of lifeguard am I going to be considered to be if I allow two swimmers to end up unconscious from hitting heads after one tries to pass another, just because they would not wait. You can bet there'll be some abuse going around then not to mention the need for a rescue, potential spinal injury of not just of one but potentially both swimmer and that is all before the legal action starts.
There are the adults who are convinced they are immune from slipping just because they are adults that run not because they forgot, we all forget, but because they seem to think they should be exempt from the laws of physics. Little kids I understand, its in their nature. Of course, I still tell them but we all know, telling them not to run is like telling birds not to fly but adults.... Seriously!
Then There is Diving.
I know that there are schools of thought that are convinced that it is or should be Ok to dive in shallow water (anything under 1.8 metres -about 5'9"- according to Royal Life Saving Society of Australia is considered shallow for diving) but even if that were true and all the research says it's not, then surely respect for the rules of the pool you want to swim in, the signs that say don't do it - there are nine in our pool - and the need to set an example for the less skilled would be enough to convince any reasonable person that the lifeguard does not deserve the finger when you are asked not to do it. You should not even need to know the level of risk you are putting yourself at by diving in the shallow end and the fact that you may not be covered by insurance if you survive a paralyzing spinal injury.
I don't know if they are embarrassed or just being complete asses.
Richard
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