Meanwhile, the late breaking news at L A Daily News includes a report about a man who is “upwards of 350 pounds” who got his fat foot caught in a pool skimmer, fell down face first, and was kept from drowning only by the quick thinking of someone who got a raft to put under him until help arrived. — Maybe our city pools should restrict really fat people?
Would they have any rafts on hand for upside-down fat people?

Statement Regarding Miguel Contreras Learning Complex
Aquatic Facility; July 31, 2007

…The Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) is working with the City of Los Angeles to provide community access to the pool. The District and the City of Los Angeles currently co-operate seven campus-based aquatic facilities and are negotiating a comprehensive agreement
to extend additional lifeguard services to nine new school campuses with aquatic facilities, including Miguel Contreras Learning Complex…

I’ve seen how packed municipal pools in L A do become, even when charging a couple bucks’ admission (like Cheviott Hills), but they have the benefit of lots of surrounding park-like space, picnic tables, baseball and soccer fields, for the people to spread out…And that one has lots of swim classes. I don’t think they have showers or lockers either, but the park also operates as a camp, and has lots of staff.

But all those mobs crowding onto a school’s grounds is a very different thing. Confusing school and municipal pools is apples and oranges.

In future, other school pools being built should consider these issues, space permitting. On the other hand, if a pool can’t be open to the public, does that mean the school shouldn’t get the pool? These are policy issues.

For the record, I don’t think the Beverly Hills high school pool is open to the public, either, even though the hood is obviously quite different, and there would not likely be any mobs to trash it. It’s open only to camps and groups which sign agreements re: safety, cleanliness, etc. Guess that’s why it’s still pristine after something like sixty years.

But it’s not just young, or inexperienced swimmers who are at risk. There have been drownings in college rec center pools, by good swimmers, that had shallow ends and were fully supervised. One, that I know of, within the last couple of years; inherent, but undiagnosed, medical conditions can make people vulnerable.

The LA Times ran an interesting piece about beach lifeguards – many of who have alternate professional lives. I think it was a column that Steve Nopez ran a little while ago about an ER doc. Anyway. What resonated for me was spotting “trouble” is done through some intangible sense of “trouble.” Apparently, on a beach, you learn to watch for specific profiles of swimmers, with the sense that these folks are likely to be the most vulnerable. Having done lifeguard duty in pools, for me, it was always the sound in the pool; “pool sounds”. Your eyes are limited in a crowded pool by what’s in your immediate field of vision. But, your ears can take in the whole. There was always a distinct difference in “pool sounds” when someone was in trouble.

Drownings are really horrible things. Water is an unnatural medium for land dwellers with lungs instead of gills. Stuff happens. The city is wise to be cautious. But, if you’re going to have a pool, and it was built with an agreement to open the pool to the public, it doesn’t do anyone any good if it just sits empty save for the water.

We just require adults to take responsiblity for any child they bring. And we offer swim lessions.

We also charge a $90 FEE which keeps out the 3rd-world-masses.

http://www.fastswimming.net/laprecswim.html

Learning to Swim is an essential lifetime skill promoting safety, fitness, and the enjoyment of water activities and sports. Our nationally certified staff, utilizing state-of-the-art instructional techniques will guide your child through the progressive levels of our swim lesson program. Our 2007 Summer Session class schedule consists of 9 weeks of instruction providing convenient ’same day, same time’ lessons to meet a wide variety of needs . Each class is small in size meeting once per week, 30 minutes per lesson, with a class limit of 3 to 4 children per instructor.

http://www.fastswimming.net/swimschool.html